Markets Wired

The Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Richard Feinstein, issued the following statement regarding today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in the Matter of Phoebe Putney Health System Inc., in which the FTC challenged Phoebe Putney’s proposed acquisition of rival Palmyra Park Hospital, Inc. from HCA, in Albany, Georgia. The FTC alleged that the deal will allow the combined Phoebe/Palmyra to raise prices for general acute-care hospital services charged to commercial health plans, substantially harming patients and local employers and employees. On June 27, a federal judge with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia granted Phoebe Putney’s motion to dismiss the FTC’s complaint. The FTC subsequently appealed that ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Today, the appeals court denied the Commission’s appeal.

“The Eleventh Circuit agrees with the Commission that this deal will create a monopoly and eliminate competition. We remain very concerned that it will raise healthcare costs dramatically in Albany, Georgia. We are considering all our options.”

(Phoebe-Putney.final)