JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION HEARINGS TO FOCUS ON HEALTH CARE AND COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY

WASHINGTON, D.C.– The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have released a detailed final agenda for the opening session of their hearings on health care and competition law and policy. The hearings will be held on February 26-28, 2003 in the FTC Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20580. There will be a total of thirty days of hearings held over the next seven months. Additional details are available on the webpages for the hearings, located at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm and http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/.

The initial set of hearings will feature representatives of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, academics, as well as the provider, payor and employer communities.

On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, the hearings will commence with short remarks by Timothy J. Muris, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and R. Hewitt Pate, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, a keynote address by Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and presentations by several academic experts. The hearings will last from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

On Thursday, February 27, 2003, there will be two panel discussions offering an array of perspectives on competition policy and the health care marketplace, and additional presentations by academic experts. The hearings will last from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. On Friday, February 28, 2003, there will be two panel discussions providing a range of perspectives on the performance of the health care marketplace in Boston and Little Rock, Arkansas, along with additional presentations by academic experts. Each panel will have approximately six invited panelists, who will each speak for 7-10 minutes. A moderated discussion will follow the presentations of the panelists. Each panel has been given a series of questions to provide a general framework for presentations and discussion. The hearings will last from 9:15 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

As noted in the Federal Register notice announcing this event, any interested person may submit written comments responsive to any of the topics to be addressed. Comments directed at a particular subject considered during a particular session of hearings must be submitted no later than 45 days after the date of that specific hearing session. Comments on broader subjects within the general scope of the hearings may be submitted at any time after the publication of this notice, but no later than November 28, 2003.

Written comments should be submitted in both hard copy and electronic form. Six hard copies of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions should be captioned: "Comments Regarding Hearings on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy." Electronic submissions may be sent by electronic mail to healthcare@ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label stating the name of the submitter as well as the name and version of the word processing program used to create the document.

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DOJ MEDIA CONTACT:

Gina Talamona

Office of Public Affairs

202-514-2007

DOJ STAFF CONTACT:

William Berlin

Litigation I Section

202-616-5938

FTC MEDIA CONTACT:

Cathy MacFarlane

Office of Public Affairs

202-326-3657

FTC STAFF CONTACT:

David Hyman

Special Counsel

202-326-2622

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