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Five
A RESOLUTION relative to litigation concerning healthcare monopolies.
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has twice before rejected attempts to exempt participants in the healthcare industry, including pharmaceutical firms, from immunity from enforcement of antitrust laws in Group Life & Health Insurance Company v. Royal Drug Company, Inc., 440 U.S. 205 (1979) and Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society, 457 U.S. 332 (1982); and
Whereas chapter 356 of the RSA provides that any combination of persons or entities that act together to fix prices or restrain trade have committed a criminal and civil offense, irrespective of the means or effectiveness of the attempt, and provides that the attorney general may investigate and bring charges; and
Whereas prices charged in this state for some pharmaceuticals have been observed to be dramatically higher than is charged for the same product in other places; and whereas prices charged for healthcare services vary from patient to patient for the identical service, and are in some cases substantially higher than free-market prices observed elsewhere; and, in fact, some of these pricing practices are already illegal under both federal antitrust law, 15 U.S.C. section 1, and state antitrust law under chapter 356 of the RSA; and
Whereas healthcare costs have risen such that approximately one dollar in 5 in the economy generally, including in our state, is spent on healthcare in all regards, and whereas we have seen this spending grow from about 4 percent of gross domestic product ("GDP") a few decades ago to over 20 percent of GDP today; and thus it is critical to ensure that the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries which provide goods and services in this space are acting in accordance with the rule of law; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the house of representatives urges the attorney general to more vigorously investigate price-fixing, market allocation, and other anticompetitive practices in the healthcare sector within the state and consider bringing enforcement actions, and urges the attorney general to make public with its reasons for inaction any allegation of price-fixing, market allocation, or other anticompetitive practice in the healthcare sector for which he or she does not pursue legal remedies.
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Five
A RESOLUTION relative to litigation concerning healthcare monopolies.
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has twice before rejected attempts to exempt participants in the healthcare industry, including pharmaceutical firms, from immunity from enforcement of antitrust laws in Group Life & Health Insurance Company v. Royal Drug Company, Inc., 440 U.S. 205 (1979) and Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society, 457 U.S. 332 (1982); and
Whereas chapter 356 of the RSA provides that any combination of persons or entities that act together to fix prices or restrain trade have committed a criminal and civil offense, irrespective of the means or effectiveness of the attempt, and provides that the attorney general may investigate and bring charges; and
Whereas prices charged in this state for some pharmaceuticals have been observed to be dramatically higher than is charged for the same product in other places; and whereas prices charged for healthcare services vary from patient to patient for the identical service, and are in some cases substantially higher than free-market prices observed elsewhere; and, in fact, some of these pricing practices are already illegal under both federal antitrust law, 15 U.S.C. section 1, and state antitrust law under chapter 356 of the RSA; and
Whereas healthcare costs have risen such that approximately one dollar in 5 in the economy generally, including in our state, is spent on healthcare in all regards, and whereas we have seen this spending grow from about 4 percent of gross domestic product ("GDP") a few decades ago to over 20 percent of GDP today; and thus it is critical to ensure that the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries which provide goods and services in this space are acting in accordance with the rule of law; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the house of representatives urges the attorney general to more vigorously investigate price-fixing, market allocation, and other anticompetitive practices in the healthcare sector within the state and consider bringing enforcement actions, and urges the attorney general to make public with its reasons for inaction any allegation of price-fixing, market allocation, or other anticompetitive practice in the healthcare sector for which he or she does not pursue legal remedies.