Most states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, have laws that allow hospitals and other health care institutions to establish confidential peer review programs to oversee the quality of care provided by their health care professionals without the threat those proceedings will be subject to discovery. Menorah Medical Center (“Menorah”), in Kansas, had such a program for its nurses. The Peer Review Committee (“Committee”) would investigate allegations of substandard care and, if substantiated, report the breach to the Kansas Board of Nursing.
Continue Reading No Right to Union Representation for Non-Mandatory Participation in Peer Review Proceedings – DC Circuit Court Overrules NLRB
DC Circuit
Anthem Terminates Cigna Merger Following D.C. Circuit Setback
By Conor Duffy on
On May 12, 2017, Anthem Inc. announced that it had terminated its merger agreement with Cigna Corporation, a deal that would have united the second and third largest sellers of health insurance to large companies in the country. Anthem’s termination of the merger came two weeks to the day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Anthem’s appeal of an injunction blocking the merger issued by a U.S. District Court earlier this year. Anthem terminated the merger one week after filing a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court that sought guidance on the viability of the “efficiencies defense” under antitrust law.
Anthem and Cigna initially entered into a merger agreement in July, 2015 that was subsequently challenged on antitrust grounds by the Department of Justice, eleven states, and the District of Columbia. The government alleged that the merger would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. §18) by substantially lessening competition in the insurance markets for (i) national accounts (i.e., insurance purchased by employers with 5000+ employees), and (ii) large group employers (those with 50+ employees) in various geographic areas throughout the country.
Continue Reading Anthem Terminates Cigna Merger Following D.C. Circuit Setback