Case Description
In February 2022, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office denied the merger application of Lifespan Corporation and Care New England Health System (CNE), the state’s two largest healthcare providers.
Lifespan and CNE filed their initial merger application with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) in April 2021. Over the course of the ten-month review, the Office collected and analyzed more than 3.6 million documents; took statements under oath of over 20 Lifespan and CNE executives, consultants they used for the merger, and representatives of Brown University; reviewed scores of academic studies; and worked closely with retained experts to analyze the proposed transaction.
In a report issued with the findings of its investigation, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office stated that the combined parties would:
- Control 75% of all inpatient acute care hospital beds in Rhode Island;
- Control 80% of the Rhode Island market for inpatient hospital care;
- Control 79% of the Rhode Island market for inpatient psychiatric care;
- Control 60% or more of the Rhode Island market for many outpatient surgery specialties;
- Account for 50% of commercial healthcare spending on patients whose primary care physician is part of the merged system’s Accountable Care Organizations; and
- Employ 67% of Rhode Island’s full-time registered nurses working at a hospital.
The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office alleged that this would violate the Hospital Conversions Act and state antitrust law. The Federal Trade Commission also voted to file an administrative complaint to enjoin the merger under federal antitrust law.
Subsequently, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and the FTC filed for a temporary restraining order to enjoin the merger. After the filing, the parties abandoned the proposed transaction.
