State seeks public comment on Terre Haute hospital merger
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The Indiana Department of Health is giving residents in Vigo County and surrounding areas a chance to weigh in on Terre Haute-based Union Health’s proposed acquisition of Terre Haute Regional Hospital.
The department is hosting a town hall on May 1 to allow public comment on the deal.
The two hospitals originally announced plans to merge in September 2023 through what is known as a Certificate of Public Advantage, or COPA, which allow hospital mergers that the Federal Trade Commission otherwise considers illegal because they reduce competition and often create monopolies.
Last September, the FTC urged the IDOH to deny the hospitals’ COPA application, saying it could shield the proposed merger from antitrust scrutiny, leading to a deal that would likely impose higher costs and could lead to worse health care outcomes for Indiana patients, as well as lower wage growth for hospital workers.
Union Health withdrew the first COPA application in November, but said the hospitals would continue to work toward completing the merger. A new COPA application was filed on Feb. 5.
The FTC reaffirmed its opposition to the merger last month, saying the “second attempt to merge under a proposed certificate of public advantage…presents the same anticompetitive harms as their original application did.”
An analysis from Yale University says the proposed merger of Union Health and Terre Haute Regional Hospital would result in an increase in health care prices and insurance premiums, in addition to lower wages for nurses.
The IDOH’s town hall will take place May 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ivy Tech Oakley Auditorium at 8000 S. Education Drive in Terre Haute.