We do not often talk or write about the scholarship our students produce.  A number of my students have won prizes for their work; more have seen their work published (in one case I know of, three times!).  I wish I had said more about all of that as it was happening.

Today, I want to promote the work of a rising 3L that I am working with on a project.  He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy.  His name is Caleb Atkins.

Caleb recently completed work on an article in the area of healthcare regulation, a big topic in the State of Tennessee, as you may know.  Healthcare is a big business in Tennessee.  Many of our students get jobs in that field. 

I became interested in Caleb's research while he was working on it because of my knowledge of the merger that underlies and inspired his inquiries.  The consolidation of healthcare facilities in various parts of the United States can have alarming effects on people.  His article provides illustrations.  I just love that Caleb has taken on this work as a student.  Months ago, I asked if I could share his work with you once it came out. 

I got news of the publication of the article while I was away a few weeks ago.  It is entitled "The Anticompetitive Nature of Certificate of Need and Certificate of Public Advantage Laws in the United States."  It was recently published in the Marquette Benefits & Social Welfare Law Review here.  The abstract for the paper is set forth below.

Certificate of Need (CON) laws serve as a major barrier to entry in the healthcare market, which already suffers from a high degree of market concentration. Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) laws give healthcare providers robust antitrust immunity by allowing a merger to go through that would oftentimes be illegal. These COPAs can lead to a reduced quality of care for patients, reduced access to care in the communities where hospitals with COPAs operate, reduced wages for hospital employees in the relevant geographic market, and increased prices for patients seeking care. Given the essential nature of healthcare services, addressing the anticompetitive effects of CON and COPA laws is of the utmost importance.

In places like Northeast Tennessee, the anticompetitive effects of CON and COPA laws are particularly troubling when we consider how little economic power the citizens in the region wield. In 2018, a COPA was granted that allowed the two largest hospitals in the region, Mountain States Health Alliance (Mountain States) and Wellmont Health Systems (Wellmont Health), to form a new entity, Ballad Health Systems (Ballad Health), in a merger. Since the merger in 2018, the citizens of Northeast Tennessee have been incredibly unsatisfied with what Ballad Health has done in their region. Accordingly, the state of Tennessee should eliminate, or at least greatly restructure, their CON laws and require Ballad Health to deliver on their promises that the state and Ballad used to justify the COPA being created in the first place. Additionally, states that are considering eliminating their CON laws or whether to grant a COPA to a hospital should carefully consider the harms that CON and COPA laws can cause.

Law school can make a difference.   Law students can make a difference.  Caleb is a great example of what is great about all that.  And if you are interested in healthcare regulation–and even if you are not–you may want to check out his article.