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SEATTLE - U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Victoria Spartz have introduced a bipartisan bill to prevent hospitals from merging.
Jayapal (WA-07) and Spartz (IN-05) introduced the Stop Anticompetitive Healthcare Act, which aims to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to expand antitrust enforcement to nonprofit hospitals.
Nonprofit hospitals qualify as charitable organizations to the IRS, and are tax-exempt.
The congresswomen argue that when hospitals merge to save money, more costs fall on their patients. According to the New York Times, the average cost of a hospital bed increased by up to 54% in the years after a merger. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that hospitals without competition in a 15-mile radius have 12% higher prices than those with competition. Between 2010 and 2017, there were 778 hospital mergers in the U.S.
By 2017, 66% of all hospitals were part of a consolidated system, KFF reports.
"Health care is a human right, and there’s no reason why, in the richest country in the world, people shouldn’t be able to access quality, affordable health care," said Jayapal. "But too often, the corporations that run hospital chains put profits over patients – leading to worse outcomes and massive, unpayable bills. My bill with Congresswoman Spartz will put in place critical guardrails to rein in predatory practices."
Jayapal previously introduced the bill in 2022.
The goal of the bill is to extend the FTC's jurisdiction to nonprofit or tax-exempt hospitals, giving them the authority to block monopolistic practices.
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"The rule of law is a principle under which all individuals and entities are accountable to the laws that are equally enforced," said Spartz. "The Stop Anticompetitive Healthcare Act fixes a loophole allowing tax-exempt hospitals to avoid antitrust enforcement."