Public policy surrounding the government’s role in the provision of health care services has been solidifying for more than one hundred years now. The federal government, having been actively involved through the Medicare and Medicaid statutory regimes for years, took an even greater step forward with the Affordable Care Act signed into law in 2010. In addition, numerous state-run programs, including more than 1,000 state and local government-owned community hospitals, work to provide health care to as many as possible.
On February 19, 2013, the Supreme Court released its decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Phoebe Putney Health System, which involved Georgia’s Hospital Authorities Law. The law gave these state-owned entities (the authorities) ordinary corporate powers, such as those necessary to purchase, lease and operate non-profit hospital projects, but it also granted some unique powers, such as that of eminent domain.
