Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Federal Appeals Court Sides With Opponents Of The Merger Of 2 Chicago Hospital Systems
Chicago Tribune: Appeals Court Rules Against Advocate, NorthShore Hospital Merger
A federal appeals court has ruled against Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem in a case over their quest to merge, reversing a lower court's decision. The case will now go back to a lower court — if the hospitals decide to continue to fight. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided Monday with the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Illinois, which sought a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt a merger of the two hospital systems. (Schencker, 10/31)
The Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Gives Boost To Government Opposition To Chicago-Area Hospital Merger
The ruling, by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, sided with the Federal Trade Commission, reversing a June trial judge’s ruling that said the government hadn’t shown the planned combination of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem was likely anticompetitive. Among other things, the appeals court said the trial judge made errors in how he analyzed competition in the geographic area, including how patients choose hospital services and how insurers market health plans. (Kendall, 10/31)
And in another takeover --
Modern Healthcare: Merger Decisions Sealed Fate Of Troubled TeamHealth
It took more than a year, but two merger decisions – one completed and one rebuffed – ultimately led to the sale of TeamHealth. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based physician staffing giant Monday announced it will be taken private and bought for $6.1 billion by the Blackstone Group. ... TeamHealth is the nation's largest physician staffing company with about 19,000 employed physicians and annual revenue of more than $4 billion. Leading up to the Blackstone announcement, TeamHealth management and its board spent more than a year trying to dig themselves out from under a pair of fateful merger decisions. (Barkholz, 10/31)
