David Balto

Enforcing Reform

David Balto argues in Modern Healthcare that a number of provisions in the recently passed health care bill will promote competition as long as they are enforced.

Bring the FTC into the 21st Century

David Balto discusses in The Hill that the Federal Trade Commission should receive a full range of powers to effectively protect consumers from deceptive and fraudulent conduct.

Breaking the Technology Bottleneck: The FTC’s Intel Case Is Critical to Innovation

The FTC has the opportunity to open up the microprocessor market to new competition and innovation in its case against Intel, explains David Balto in a Huffington Post column.

The FTC’s Challenge to Intel

The Federal Trade Commission has a straightforward antitrust case against Intel, says David Balto.

Highmark Chutzpah: Pennsylvanians Have a Right to Know What Big Insurers Are Up To

David Balto stresses the importance of health care reform after analyzing the anticompetitive practices of Pennsylvania's four largest insurers.

Transparency Will Lead to Major Savings for the Federal Drug Benefit

While transparency may be an annoyance for the PBMs, it will enhance the federal government’s ability to hold them accountable and reduce waste in prescription drug spending, writes David Balto.

Problems Arise When Pharmacy Chains Own Pharmacy Benefit Managers

McCarran-Ferguson Antitrust Reform 101

David Balto explains the basics of how and why we need to reform health care antitrust laws.

One Cheer for Antitrust

David Balto comments at Billboard on the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which was approved by the Justice Department in January.

Make the Market Work for Health Care

Eliminating the antitrust exemption is an important first step to allowing the lodestar of competition to guide health insurance markets, writes David Balto.

Don’t Handicap the Reform: Protecting Integrated Care Systems

Congress is preparing to finalize a health care bill for both chambers to consider. The purpose of healthcare reform is to increase the number of insured, improve the level of health care and reduce health care spending. Although there are many disputes in the health care debate, two issues seem clear. First, integrated health care systems, which combine payment and health care delivery, are superior in delivering high quality health care and controlling health care costs. Second, traditional health insurers that focus solely on payment dominate health insurance markets, resulting in escalating costs, higher premiums and the chronic problems of the uninsured.

Merger Lessons Learned: Why the DOJ Must Block Ticketmaster/Live Nation Monopoly

Antitrust enforcement is the bulwark to a competitive market. Unfortunately, over the past several years, there has been very little merger enforcement exerted by the Department of Justice. In fact, the DOJ has not tried a merger case for over five years.