The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a public workshop titled “Private Capital, Public Impact: An FTC Workshop on Private Equity in Health Care” on March 5, 2024.

The workshop’s stated goal was to examine the role of private equity investment in health care markets. On that same day, the FTC, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and the Department of Health and Human Services (together the “agencies”) jointly launched a public inquiry into private equity’s involvement in health care markets. The inquiry is seeking information regarding “deals conducted by health systems, private payers, private equity funds, and other alternative asset managers that involve health care providers, facilities, or ancillary products or services.” The agencies are looking for this information to help evaluate how certain transactions might increase consolidation in health care markets.

The agencies’ recent actions demonstrate the increased focus on potential consolidation in health care markets resulting from private equity investment. Indeed, the agencies appear skeptical of private equity involvement in health care, and increased scrutiny of transactions for potential antitrust concerns may be on the horizon. More specifically, the FTC’s workshop noted multiple strategies the agencies view as concerning, which include rollups, interlocking directorates, and investments into competing companies within the same industry.