title: HMO mergers and Medicare: the antitrust issues.
abstract: This paper presents a theoretical framework to predict the effects that may arise from mergers in the rapidly-growing Medicare HMO market. We argue that mergers of large Medicare HMOs should be targeted for antitrust investigation because there are significant barriers into this market. The recent merger of PacifiCare and FHP is used to illustrate the potential antitrust issues raised by Medicare HMO mergers.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis 55455-0392, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Given
mesh_terms: D016363:Antitrust Laws / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D019981:Health Care Sector; D006273:Health Facility Merger / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States