FTC/DOJ Release Agenda for First Session of Health Care Hearings

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have released a detailed final agenda for the opening session of their hearings on health care and competition law and policy, to be held from February 26-28, 2003. The two agencies will hold a total of 30 days of hearings over the next seven months. Additional information is located on the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/ and on the DOJ's Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm.

The initial set of hearings will feature representatives of the FTC; the DOJ; the Department of Health & Human Services; the academic community; and the provider, payor, and employer communities.

On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, the hearings will commence with short remarks by representatives of the FTC and the DOJ, a keynote address by Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and presentations by several academic experts.

On Thursday, February 27, 2003, two panel discussions will offer an array of perspectives on competition policy and the health care marketplace, with additional presentations by academic experts. On Friday, February 28, 2003, two panels will discuss the performance of the health care marketplace in Boston, MA, and Little Rock, AR, with further presentations by academic experts. Each panel will consist of approximately six invited panelists, each of whom will speak for seven to 10 minutes. A moderated discussion will follow the presentations. Each panel has been given a series of questions to provide a general framework for presentations and discussion.

The hearings will be held on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., on Thursday, February 27, 2003 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Friday, February 28, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The hearings will be held in the FTC Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20580.

As stated in the Federal Register notice announcing this event, any interested person may submit written comments in response to any of the topics to be addressed. Comments directed at a particular subject considered during a particular session of hearings must be submitted no later than 45 days after the date of that specific hearing session. Comments on broader subjects within the general scope of the hearings may be submitted at any time after the publication of this notice, but no later than November 28, 2003.

Written comments should be submitted in both hard copy and electronic form. Six hard copies of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions should be captioned: "Comments Regarding Hearings on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy." Electronic submissions may be sent by electronic mail to healthcare@ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label stating the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word- processing program used to create the document.

Information about the health care hearings is available from the Web site for the hearings, http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/ or http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm and from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Angela Wilson is the staff assistant for the workshop. She may be reached by e-mail at: awilson@ftc.gov or 202-326-3190.

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