Provider-Sponsored Alternative Health Care Delivery Systems: Reducing Antitrust Liability After Maricopa

The phenomenal rate of inflation experienced by the health care industry in the past several years has been a substantial cause of concern for everyone affected-physicians, hospitals, insurers, employers and consumers. Public reaction to the tremendous increase in health care costs has created pressure on health care providers to compete on the basis of price and to deliver services more efficiently. The recent growth of alternative health care delivery systems (ADSs) has been a direct response to a number of problems created by increasing health care costs including increased competition in health care delivery, resistance by payors and consumers to spiraling costs, physician surpluses, an oversupply of hospital beds, and consumer demand for more convenient access to services.