{"id":35761,"date":"2022-06-03T23:56:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T23:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/two-nj-health-systems-want-to-merge-but-the-feds-say-its-bad-for-patients\/"},"modified":"2022-06-03T23:56:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T23:56:59","slug":"two-nj-health-systems-want-to-merge-but-the-feds-say-its-bad-for-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/two-nj-health-systems-want-to-merge-but-the-feds-say-its-bad-for-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Two NJ health systems want to merge. But the feds say it’s bad for patients."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The federal government is suing to block the proposed merger between RWJBarnabas Health and Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, saying the acquisition would be “bad for patients.”<\/p>\n

The Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that it has filed suit in federal court to halt RWJBarnabas – the state’s largest health system – from acquiring the nonprofit Saint Peter’s, a merger that has been in the works since 2019.<\/p>\n

An administrative trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 29.<\/p>\n

The FTC alleges RWJBarnabas’ acquisition of the New Brunswick health network would “harm competition for inpatient general acute care services.”<\/p>\n

\u201cSaint Peter’s University Hospital is less than one mile away from RWJ in New Brunswick, and they are the only two hospitals in that city,\u201d FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said in the statement. “There is overwhelming evidence that this acquisition would be bad for patients, because the parties would no longer have to compete to provide the lowest prices and the best quality and service.”<\/p>\n

The FTC alleges that a combined health system would consolidate roughly half the market share for general acute care services in Middlesex County, \u201ceasily resulting in a presumption of harm under the antitrust laws,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

RWJBarnabas Health, headquartered in West Orange, runs 12 acute care hospitals, three children’s hospitals and multiple satellite offices. Saint Peter’s includes a 478-bed teaching hospital and children’s hospital. <\/p>\n

The two health networks are direct competitors. Eliminating that competition, the FTC maintains, would be bad for patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis competition incentivizes RWJ and Saint Peter’s to improve quality, technology, amenities, equipment, access to care, and service offerings,\u201d the FTC said. <\/p>\n

RWJBarnabas was notified Friday about the FTC’s plans, resulting in a pointed statement from the health network.<\/p>\n

RWJBarnabas is seeking to build “the first premier academic medical center in New Jersey to increase services and provide better access to such care for New Jersey residents,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement, which was jointly signed by Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and CEO of RWJ Barnabas Health, and Leslie D. Hirsch, president and CEO of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System.<\/p>\n

“We are incredibly disappointed by these FTC actions against our proposed transaction, which has received full approval from New Jersey’s Attorney General and is supported by grassroots community groups, employer groups, unions, managed care organizations and elected officials at all levels within the State of New Jersey, \u201dthe statement said. <\/p>\n

“We are most disappointed, however, for the people of New Jersey – especially those who reside in our most vulnerable, chronically underserved communities – who will be denied access to the complex care only provided by premier academic medical centers. We shall be reviewing the FTC’s complaint, which the State of New Jersey did not join, over the coming days and determine how to best move forward. “<\/p>\n

The FTC believes the acquisition, however, would do more harm to patients than good. The agency alleges that the acquisition would “leave insurers with fewer, less attractive alternatives.”<\/p>\n

“The only other general acute care hospitals in Middlesex County are located outside New Brunswick. A combined health system would likely be able to demand higher reimbursement rates and \/ or more onerous contractual terms than it does today, which will harm consumers, \u201dthe FTC said in the statement.<\/p>\n

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to <\/i>NJ.com<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Spencer Kent may be reached at <\/i>skent@njadvancemedia.com<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The federal government is suing to block the proposed merger between RWJBarnabas Health and Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, saying the acquisition would be “bad for patients.” The Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that it has filed suit in federal court to halt RWJBarnabas – the state’s largest health system – from acquiring the …<\/p>\n

Two NJ health systems want to merge. But the feds say it’s bad for patients.<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/resizer\/5AgSP3lAEaJGDF_sftZfwIZA5rA=\/1280x0\/smart\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/advancelocal\/XXZNYNZPTVBNTGADX3DUJOHJHE.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}