On Feb. 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Federal Trade Commission v. Phoebe Putney Health System,1 holding that the state action doctrine does not immunize the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County’s purchase and lease of its only competitor hospital from federal antitrust liability because its general grant of corporate powers under Georgia law fails to clearly articulate permission to use those powers for such an anticompetitive transaction. The decision signals to lower courts the need to arrest the frequency with which state action immunity shields the application of federal antitrust law. Conversely, it behooves state legislatures to assess whether their enabling statutes sufficiently evidence an intention to immunize certain desired anticompetitive activity from federal scrutiny.
Proposed Transaction
Phoebe arose out of the merger between two hospitals in Georgia, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) and Palmyra Park Hospital.2 PPMH is owned by the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County, which leases PPMH to Phoebe Putney Health System (PPHS), a non-profit private corporation that operates the hospital.3 Palmyra is a subsidiary of HCA, a private for-profit corporation.
