The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary
Subcommittee on
Intellectual Property,
Competition and the Internet held a hearing on
Oversight of the
Antitrust Enforcement Agencies.
Witnesses included Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Sharis Pozen,
acting assistant attorney general for the
Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
Leibowitz detailed the FTC’s work to
promote competition and benefit consumers, by
preventing anticompetitive mergers, restricting
“pay-for-delay” pharmaceutical agreements that
increase prescription drug costs, stopping anti-
competitive hospital mergers and promoting
competition in the high-technology and energy
markets.
Leibowitz also told the subcommittee that
competitive markets are the foundation of the
U.S. economy, and effective antitrust enforcement
is essential for those markets to function
well.
“Vigorous competition promotes economic
growth by keeping prices down, expanding output
and the variety of choices available to
consumers, and promoting innovation ...The FTC
has jurisdiction over a wide swath of the
economy, so we focus on sectors where our actions
will do the greatest good for the greatest number
of consumers, including energy, technology and,
of course, health care.
He said, “Health care costs have risen
to nearly 18 percent of GDP and will continue to
increase, so it is more important than ever that
the commission be vigilant and take action to
preserve and promote competition in health care
markets”
Leibowitz continued, “The cost of health care is
a real problem for all Americans, and the
commission seeks to address this national problem
by using all the tools Congress gave to us, and
by devoting significant resources so that
competition will enable market participants to
deliver on the promises of cost-containment and
continued excellence and innovation.”
Pozen discussed many instances of
investigation the Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice has held recently to
inspect and properly act on certain mergers. One
of the many priorities Pozen discussed was health
care. She said, “This past year has been an
active one for our advocacy program.” In the
health-care arena, the division worked closely
with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, and
other federal agencies to ensure that sound
competition principles will help guide reform,
encouraging innovation in health care delivery
systems while preserving competitive markets.”
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administration did not include the need for the
reform or repeal of the McCarran-Ferguson Act in
its testimony.
To view full testimony from the hearing,
visit ASA’s legislative website at www.TakingTheHill.com.
For additional information about ASA,
including past news releases, go to www.ASAshop.org.
