Economic Liberties Applauds Minnesota Legislature Vote to Rein in Health Care Monopolies

May 22, 2023 Press Release

Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement following the passage of HF 402 in the Minnesota Senate, which gives state enforcers new powers to block hospital mergers and creates a new notification system for mergers in health care markets. The bill has passed both chambers of the state legislature and now moves to the governor.

“The Minnesota legislature is absolutely correct in focusing on the harms of hospital monopolies and approving new state powers to rein them in,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “HF 402 gives the state attorney general the ability to review and block hospital mergers that will result in worse care or lower wages, creating a public interest standard that will protect Minnesota communities from rampant health care consolidation. We look forward to the governor signing this vital measure into law.”

To learn more, read “The Harms of Hospital Mergers and How to Stop Them.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.