Evolving Antitrust Analysis of Hospital Mergers: How Differences between Patient and Insurer Perspectives Could Create “Cross-Market” Effects

Mergers that expand healthcare systems, even when they combine providers that are unlikely to compete for inpatient discharges, are increasingly under scrutiny. Empirical academic studies have found some evidence of price increases following mergers combining hospitals that are too distant to serve as close substitutes for most patients — i.e. “cross-market” mergers. Economic models can generate such effects by positing scenarios in which provider-insurer negotiations are impacted, without