New Biden Executive Order Targets Hospital Mergers & Drug Pricing, Renews Antitrust Focus

Last week, the Biden Administration unveiled a sweeping executive order, focused on promoting competition in the US economy. With Lina Khan as the new chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission, the administration is looking to increase its antitrust focus and potentially break up monopolies. The new executive order contains 72 provisions, giving direction to multiple agencies on sectors such as agriculture, transportation, labor, and health care. In health care, the executive order focuses on drug pricing, hospital mergers and acquisitions, hospital pricing transparency, biosimilars, and comparison shopping for health plans.Listen to Health Affairs' Deputy Editor Rob Lott and Senior Content Marketing Manager Jeff Byers go over the health care sections in the Biden administration's executive order on promoting competition in the US economy. They also discuss the hipster antitrust movement, the cost of hearing aids, and hospital deal trends since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.Related Links:Fact Sheet: Executive Order On Promoting Competition In The American Economy (White House)Hospital M&A Down From Pre-Pandemic Highs, Though Deal Size Growing, Kaufman Hall Says (Healthcare Dive)Biden Administration's First Marketplace Rule Promotes Coverage and Reverse Trump-Era Changes (Health Affairs Blog)How Biosimilars Are Affecting The Drug Markets (A Health Podyssey)Lina Khan And the "Hipster Antitrust" Movement (The Atlantic)The End of Friedmanomics (The New Republic)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast