Robert Pear in Tuesday's NY Times reports that efforts by health care providers, doctors and hospitals, to organize and cooperate in the production of health care are raising concerns among antitrust lawyers:

Many savings now envisioned by the health care industry would require much closer cooperation by independent doctors and hospitals, taking them into a gray area of the law where federal agencies have not provided clear guidance.

In a recent letter to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Hospital Association said uncertainty about enforcement of the antitrust laws “makes it difficult for a hospital and doctors to collaborate to improve care” and lower costs.

Doctors often want to collaborate and share information about prices without sharing financial risk or fully merging their office practices. The American Medical Association has asked Congress to revise antitrust laws so doctors can collectively negotiate with insurers over fees and other issues.

The Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly challenged such collective action as illegal price-fixing, even though doctors say they are at a severe disadvantage in trying to negotiate with giant insurance companies.

Readers of this blog will realize that Wonks Anonymous is strongly in favor of "big medicine". In fact he thinks that health care providers do not have nearly enough bargaining power. He is also of the opinion that large group practices integrated with hospitals are an improvement over the current small practice, independent hospital model of medicine in the US.

But this would not only result in better, more cost effective health care, it would also give doctors and hospitals some advantage in bargaining with the government, drug companies and health insurers.

Jamie Court, the president of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, said he was wary of such joint efforts.

“When companies that control the health care system get together to change it, there is a serious risk that they are doing it to stifle competition at the expense of consumers,” Mr. Court said.

The Federal Trade Commission says that while cooperation among health care providers can benefit consumers, it can also increase the bargaining power of hospitals and doctors, making it easier for them to set prices and eliminate competition.

And we don't want that, do we?