Healthcare Innovation Article by Jaya White and Kiel Zillmer Provides Guidance on Dealing with State Laws Governing Health Care Business Transactions
Quarles & Brady attorneys Jaya White and Kiel Zillmer, both members of the firm’s Health & Life Sciences Practice Group, authored an article for Healthcare Innovation about the increasing number of state laws governing certain merger and acquisition activities by health care entities.
In the article, White, a partner, and Zillmer, an associate, addressed some of the laws enacted by different states and key variations in the approaches by some states, and then outlined key steps health care organizations should take when considering a possible transaction to ensure compliance with all applicable state laws.
An excerpt:
Healthcare market concentration and competition continue to cause significant uneasiness among state authorities, particularly as these issues impact individual consumers.
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As such, in recent years, states have begun enacting statutory regimes requiring healthcare entities that intend to engage in certain transactions to notify, and in some cases obtain approval from, state agencies prior to consummating the deal. With nearly 20 states having already adopted such laws and others, like Texas, with pending legislation, this trend shows no sign of slowing.
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It is imperative that healthcare entities that are considering entering into a transaction—whether an acquisition, merger, or other form of corporate restructuring—closely analyze whether the healthcare transaction review laws of a particular state apply to that transaction, paying particular attention to the scope of health care entities and transactions implicated by those laws.
Given the speed with which these laws are being adopted and amended by states, health care entities should also ensure that they stay fully updated on the current requirements of enacted laws and any pending legislation that could modify such requirements or introduce new notification obligations.