On April 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Justice Department (“DOJ”), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) launched an online reporting portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, for the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices. The online reporting portal provides examples of unfair and anticompetitive health care practices under existing antitrust laws including:
As various states and federal agencies seek to prohibit or limit the use of non-competes, Connecticut joined the trend. Connecticut’s new legislation, SB 9, expands restrictions on the enforceability of physician non-competes and extends these restrictions to advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs).
On June 5, 2023, the Connecticut Senate passed SB 9, sending it to Governor Ned Lamont to sign into law. The governor’s signature is a formality as the bill passed both houses of the Connecticut Legislature unanimously. By limiting the circumstances in which non-competes are enforceable under Connecticut law, SB 9 adds additional restrictions to the use of such covenants in physician employment agreements while extending these restrictions to APRN and PA employment agreements. Notably, the bill was significantly amended prior to passage with earlier versions banning non-competes for physicians, APRNs and PAs entirely.Continue Reading New Non-Compete Health Care Restrictions in Connecticut
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mountain
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Join us for a program that will dive into the issues surrounding non-competes in the health care industry. Seyfarth attorneys will engage in a lively panel discussion
Continue Reading Upcoming ACC Houston Webinar: Non-Competes in the Health Care Workplace
On this episode of Health Care Beat, host Chris DeMeo is joined by Kristine Argentine, partner in Seyfarth’s Chicago office and chair of the firm’s Commercial Consumer Class Action Defense group. Their discussion covers a string of recent cases involving the pursuit of employers across the health care industry (and others) for labor-related antitrust violations. Kristine also provides insight
Continue Reading Health Care Beat Podcast: Antitrust Enforcement of Employment Agreements
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced the indictment by a grand jury charging four owners/managers of home health care agencies in Maine with participating in a conspiracy to suppress wages and restrict the job mobility of personal support specialist (PSS) workers in violation of Section 1 of the federal Sherman Act. According to the indictment, the owners/managers agreed to fix the rates paid to these workers and also agreed not to hire each other’s workers. The DOJ warned in a press release that “[t]his indictment is the first in this ongoing investigation into wage fixing and worker allocation schemes in the PSS industry,” and part of a larger “ongoing federal antitrust investigation into wage fixing and worker allocation in the home health care industry.”
Continue Reading Alleged “No-Poach” Agreement in Health Care Industry Results in Another Criminal Antitrust Prosecution
A recent Ninth Circuit ruling in a dispute between two health care staffing agencies clarifies that non-solicitation provisions in business-to-business collaboration agreements are not per se violations of the Sherman Act. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc. v. AMN Healthcare, Inc. No. 20-55679, 2021 WL 3671384 (9th Cir. Aug. 19, 2021).
When hospitals and other health care facilities have nursing shortages, travel nurses provide a temporary solution. Health care facilities often turn to staffing agencies to recruit nurses for these assignments.
Continue Reading Collaborate Away: Ninth Circuit Rules that Non-Solicitation Provisions in Collaboration Agreements Are Not Per Se Violations of Federal Antitrust Law