Antitrust implications for consumer prices resulting from non-profit hospital mergers (New York)

Some see hospital mergers as part of solution to the high cost of healthcare while others see them as a contributing factor. From this dichotomy of opinion is posed the question of the effectiveness of the government's antitrust screening procedures and their ability to prospectively differentiate mergers that threaten consumer welfare from those that do not.; A study was conducted of nine New York State hospitals engaged in six transactions. The results showed that the average five-year change in private payer prices in all cases, including the Department of Justice contested North Shore University and Long Island Jewish merger, were consistent with similar hospitals that did not merge.; Other observations included actual declining prices in some post merger hospitals and faster price growth in merger hospitals found in rural communities and among those that did not consolidate services.