Health Care Competition Law in the Shadow of State Action: Minimizing MACs

27 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2016 Last revised: 29 Oct 2016

See all articles by David A. Hyman

David A. Hyman

Georgetown University Law Center

William E. Kovacic

George Washington University - Law School; King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Date Written: August 25, 2016

Abstract

How should we go about reconciling competition and consumer protection in health care, given the long shadow cast by the state action doctrine? We consider that issue, using a case study drawn from an obscure corner of the pharmaceutical reimbursement market to motivate and inform our analysis. We show how the balance between competition and consumer protection has been distorted by the political economy of health care regulation – compounded by the extension of the state action doctrine far past its defensible borders. If anything, considerations of political economy argue for much greater skepticism about the utility of regulation – and of the state action doctrine – in the health care space.

Keywords: health care, competition, antitrust, state action, pharmaceuticals, MAC

JEL Classification: K00, K21, K23, L44

Suggested Citation

Hyman, David A. and Kovacic, William E., Health Care Competition Law in the Shadow of State Action: Minimizing MACs (August 25, 2016). University of Illinois College of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 16-31, GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2016-42, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-42, King's College London Law School Research Paper No. 2016-42, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2829769 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2829769

David A. Hyman (Contact Author)

Georgetown University Law Center ( email )

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States

William E. Kovacic

George Washington University - Law School ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States
202.994.8123 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.gwu.edu/faculty/profile.aspx?id=1731

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Somerset House East Wing
Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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