The Pacific Business Group on Health wrote congressional leaders seeking a yearlong ban on mergers and acquisitions among hospital and clinician groups that sought government money, Reuters reported May 22.
The lobbyist group, which represents businesses like Boeing, Salesforce, Tesla and Walmart, said consolidation in healthcare will lead to higher costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic devastated clinician groups because of statewide bans on elective surgical procedures. Although procedures are restarting, the lobbyist group is seeking the ban to prevent large health systems from buying struggling practices.
PBGH CEO Elizabeth Mitchell wrote: "Anti-competitive practices are increasingly concerning to large employers. What we're seeing happening right now is the collapse of independent primary care."
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