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Health care companies trying to merge can expect tougher policing from the top federal antitrust agencies, according to a set of new draft guidelines released Wednesday.

The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission laid out 13 proposed guidelines detailing how they will judge whether proposed mergers and acquisitions are anticompetitive and should be challenged.

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The rules would apply broadly across the economy, but they have strong implications for the health care industry, where sizable deals among hospitals, physician practices, private equity firms, health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device firms, and numerous other entities occur almost weekly. Research has shown that health care’s highly concentrated markets are a major reason why prices and spending have soared for patients and taxpayers.

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