http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/slideshow/healthcare-mergers-and-acquisitions-2016-running-list

Prospect and Crozer-Keystone signed a definitive agreement in January. Under the agreement, Crozer-Keystone hospitals, its physician network and other facilities will become part of the Prospect network. Prospect has committed to keep all five Crozer-Keystone hospitals open and will make capital investments in the health system totaling at least $200 million over the next five years.
https://www.propublica.org/article/who-makes-sure-hospital-mergers-do-no-harm-almost-nobody
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http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/06/01/value-creation-and-value-shifting-in-health-care/

The whole industry seems to be reading from the same playbook: Pair up with a company that makes the same product to become a leading provider, and thus gain more clout to negotiate business with hospitals and health insurers. There is ample empirical research in health economics showing that consolidation on the supply side of the health care sector has served to drive up prices. It is another way of saying that it supports value shifting, rather than value creation.
My gratuitous advice to the drug industry, and to the health care industry in general, is to be very mindful of the distinction between value creation and value shifting in their pricing policies, lest they eventually invoke the wrath of the losers in that game, with dire consequences.

The recently announced decision by Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon and Elliot Health Systems in Manchester to pursue an alliance is just the latest move in a wave of consolidation that’s altering the health-care landscape in the Granite State.
Health reform (aka Obamacare) is entering a new stage. The recent announcement by United Health Care that it will stop selling insurance to individuals and families through most health insurance exchanges marks the transition. In the next stage, federal and state policy makers must decide how to use broad regulatory powers they have under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to stabilize, expand, and diversify risk pools, improve local market competition, encourage insurers to compete on product quality rather than premium alone, and promote effective risk management. In addition, insurance companies must master rate setting, plan design, and network management and effectively manage the health risk of their enrollees in order to stay profitable, and consumers must learn how to choose and use the best plan for their circumstances.

Forest Park Medical Center Fort Worth was shut down late Tuesday and most of its employees laid off as Texas Health Resources wraps up its purchase of the bankrupt doctor-owned, luxury hospital on the city’s west side.