States with stronger merger review authorities tend to be tougher on hospital partnerships than states with weaker authorities, but medical prices still increase, a December Health Affairs study found.
The study examined 862 proposed hospital mergers between 2010 and 2019. Of those proposals, 42 were challenged by states. Of those 42, 35 had no federal involvement. Of those 35, 25 were from the eight states with the strongest merger review authority, according to the report.
Out of those 25 proposals, two of the mergers were stopped, three were deserted by the parties involved and the remaining 20 were approved with conditions. Seven of those approved had competitive-impact conditions.
Despite being tougher on proposals, medical prices and market concentration in these states still increased at similar levels to other states. Researchers in the study said this is because most of the mergers were approved with conditions that did not address competition.