Healthcare remains a top priority, consistent with President Trump’s first term, when nearly half of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) merger enforcement actions involved healthcare-related industries.
As FTC Commissioner Mark Meador recently explained, “When we talk about putting American citizens at the center of our enforcement agenda, affordability is a natural lens through which to view our approach. When core goods—such as housing, healthcare, energy, and food—become more expensive in ways that cannot be explained by innovation or genuine improvements in quality, that tells us something about whether competition is working.” In light of this emphasis on affordability, both the FTC and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have actively pursued pocketbook enforcement across multiple industries.
The DOJ’s Antitrust Division required Constellation/Calpine to divest six power plants in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas to preserve competition in the PJM mid-Atlantic and ERCOT electricity markets, with the DOJ noting that the “price of electricity is a pocketbook issue to American consumers working hard to afford their monthly utility bills.” The DOJ also settled the Reddy Ice/Arctic Glacier transaction in January 2026, requiring Reddy Ice to divest packaged ice manufacturing and distribution facilities, customer relationships, and contracts in five states—California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, and New York—to multiple regional acquirers in order to preserve competition for packaged ice, “a staple Americans enjoy everywhere from backyard cookouts to cross-country flights.”
The FTC, too, has stepped up its pocketbook enforcement, particularly in the healthcare industry:
- In March 2026, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson launched a cross-bureau Healthcare Task Force—bringing together the Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection, and Economics—to coordinate enforcement and advocacy across the sector, noting that healthcare accounts for roughly 18% of U.S. GDP yet “too many Americans struggle to get the care they need at prices they can afford.”
- Heightened healthcare merger enforcement is consistent and ongoing. For example, the FTC successfully challenged Edwards Lifesciences’ proposed acquisition of JenaValve, a medical device merger where the FTC alleged a monopoly in a developing product market for transcatheter aortic valve replacement for the treatment of aortic regurgitation (TAVR-AR) devices (after a six-day trial in August 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction in January 2026 and Edwards subsequently announced it was abandoning the USD945 million transaction). FTC-scrutiny also caused parties in the proposed Alcon-Lensar merger of cataract surgery device makers to terminate the transaction prior to the agency filing a formal complaint. And, the FTC required Sevita to divest 128 intermediate care facilities to Dungarvin Group, Inc., an experienced operator of intermediate care facilities, as a condition of acquiring BrightSpring’s community living business.
FTC-scrutiny also caused parties in the proposed Alcon-Lensar merger of cataract surgery device makers to terminate the transaction prior to the agency filing a formal complaint. And, the FTC required Sevita to divest 128 intermediate care facilities to Dungarvin Group, Inc., an experienced operator of intermediate care facilities, as a condition of acquiring BrightSpring’s community living business.
Last month alone, the FTC has announced two healthcare merger settlements across different healthcare segments.
- On June 2, 2026, the FTC announced that it will require Ascension Health Alliance (“Ascension”) to divest several ambulatory surgery center facilities for its proposed USD3.9 billion acquisition of AmSurg LLC (“AmSurg”). The FTC alleged that the proposed combination would reduce competition for certain outpatient gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and orthopedic procedures in five overlapping local geographic markets. The proposed consent order requires Ascension to divest seven AmSurg ambulatory surgery centers across these five local geographies to two different upfront buyers, SC Affiliates and Florida Gastroenterology Center, reflecting the agency’s preference for established operators capable of preserving competition. The consent order also includes other standard provisions, including a compliance monitor, transition assistance for up to one year, and a 10-year prior notice requirement for acquisitions near the divested facilities.
- On June 18, 2026, the FTC announced that it will require Aurobindo Pharma Limited (“Aurobindo”) to divest four generic drug products for its USD250m acquisition of Lannett Company Inc. (“Lannett”). The FTC alleged that the proposed combination would eliminate actual, direct, and substantial competition between Aurobindo and Lannett across each of the four national generic drug markets—pilocarpine tablets, niacin ER tablets, rabeprazole sodium DR tablets, and mycophenolate mofetil oral suspension. Under the terms of the FTC’s proposed consent order, Aurobindo will be required to divest all four products to Quagen Pharmaceuticals LLC, an experienced generic pharmaceutical company. The consent order also includes other standard provisions, including the provision of transition services and the appointment of a monitor to oversee compliance obligations.
The current merger enforcement landscape carries several practical takeaways for companies considering transactions in healthcare and other consumer-facing industries.
- Companies in “pocketbook” industries (healthcare, energy, housing, agriculture, etc.) should expect heightened merger review scrutiny, regardless of deal size, given the Trump administration’s merger enforcement actions to date and explicit statements about prioritizing everyday consumer impact.
- The formation of the FTC’s Healthcare Task Force signals a shift from ad hoc enforcement to an institutionalized, cross-bureau approach, meaning that parties to healthcare transactions should anticipate heightened and more coordinated agency scrutiny.
- The Trump administration’s willingness to accept negotiated remedies—a marked departure from the Biden administration that more often sued to block transactions outright—creates a pathway for deals to proceed where robust divestitures can address competitive concerns. Though, as both the Ascension-AmSurg and Aurobindo-Lannett orders illustrate, the antitrust agencies still favor fix-it-first structures with upfront, pre-approved buyers. Transacting parties potentially anticipating competitive concerns should identify and vet capable divestiture buyers early so they can be prepared to efficiently engage in settlement discussions, if needed.
- Despite the return of negotiated remedies, the antitrust agencies remain willing to litigate when necessary to preserve competition. This is especially true in the healthcare industry, which accounts for 60% of the merger challenges under the current administration.
