Chapter 378 (House Bill 1388) an ACT concerning Labor and Employment-Noncompete and Conflict of Interest Clauses-Clauses for Veterinary and Health Care Professionals and Study of Health Care Markets directs the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) to study how acquisitions of physician practices and health care facilities by private equity (P.E) firms, health systems and health care payers impact Maryland's health care system. MHCC is contracting with the Brown University School of Public Health to study the impact of private equity and separately contracting with The Hilltop Institute of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) to study the dynamics and consequences of insurer market concentration as well as the impact of health systems’ and health care plans' ownership of physician practices and health care facilities.

All stakeholders — including patients, consumer advocates, doctors, nurses, health care providers, health plan and health system administrators, and employers are invited to share their comments in this Request For Comment (RFC). The questions are broad and cover different types of purchasers including private equity firms, health plans, and health systems. MHCC seeks comments on acquisitions in particular of physician practices and ambulatory surgery centers. We also seek comment on a broader range of health care organization acquisitions including nursing homes, hospice providers, home health agencies, home- and community-based services providers, behavioral health providers, pharmacy benefit managers, and health information technology firms involved in clinical and administrative functions.

Comment: respondents have two options to provide comments: respond to questions below in a text document and email to mhcc.rfc_acquisitions@maryland.gov or complete this Google Form. In either case, a commenter is invited to respond to all or some of the questions. If a respondent emails comments in an attachment, MHCC prefers that the attachment be a Word or PDF document.