Clifford Chance

DOJ Antitrust Division and the Office of Inspector General at HHS Announce Plans to Closely Coordinate on Healthcare Investigations

December 16, 2022

On December 9, 2022, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ" or "Division") and the Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") of the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") signed a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") aimed at increasing coordination in information sharing, enforcement activity, trainings, outreach and education with respect to healthcare entities. The MOU outlines procedures to be followed by both agencies in working together to promote competition in healthcare markets and protect federal healthcare programs. This announcement closely tracks the Biden Administration's encouragement of federal agencies with overlapping jurisdiction to coordinate and cooperate efforts in stopping anticompetitive effects as laid out in the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. Specifically, the Division and OIG emphasized their interest in protecting federal health care programs and promoting competitive health care markets.  The MOU is effective immediately.

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