The US FTC seeks to block another two hospital mergers following recent successes and growing concerns over increased concentration in the hospitals sector (HCA Healthcare / Steward Health Care System) (RWJ Barnabas Health / Saint Peter’s Healthcare System)

On the heels of two successful hospital merger challenges in the last year, the FTC announced on Thursday that it is bringing two new cases seeking to block proposed hospital transactions: RWJBarnabas Health’s (RWJ’s) acquisition of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System (Saint Peter’s) in New Jersey and HCA Healthcare’s acquisition of Steward Health Care (Steward's) assets and facilities in Utah. While both press releases allege that the transactions will reduce competition for inpatient general acute care (GAC) services, they identify different allegations and strike somewhat different tones. RWJ / Saint Peter’s The FTC voted 5-0 to issue an administrative complaint and