Hospital Mergers and the Public Interest: Recent Developments in the Netherlands

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

M.F.M. Canoy, European Commission and Wolf Sauter, Tilburg Law and Economics Center have a new paper on Hospital Mergers and the Public Interest: Recent Developments in the Netherlands.

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the recent experience concerning hospital mergers in The Netherlands. A topic that is likely to be of broader relevance as health care reform in The Netherlands is relatively advanced. In particular we look at issues concerning market definition, vertical integration and the efficiency defense. The findings are that there appears to be a case for stricter, possibly sector specific, forms of merger control in a liberalisation context. Also there is a need for flanking measures – such as facilitating market entry. Finally public interest standards in health care such as quality, affordability and accessibility should be developed further to enable them to play a more meaningful role in merger control.