§ 6-18-301 — Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that the rapidly changing health-care market provides
unique opportunities for health-care providers to organize themselves into new
forms of collaborative systems to deliver high quality health care at competitive
market prices to cooperatives and other purchasers. This part 3 is enacted to
encourage such collaborative arrangements and to further market-based
competition among health-care providers.

(2) The general assembly further recognizes that in order to achieve the
most effective use of resources and medical technology to respond to changing
market conditions, providers who would otherwise be competitors with each other
will need to horizontally integrate in order to develop collaborative arrangements to
guarantee an adequate number of providers to service the market and to vertically
integrate in order to guarantee that those who receive services will have a
continuum of care as appropriate to their care needs.

(3) The general assembly also recognizes that to effect such new forms of
collaborative systems and integration of providers to service the market will require
an analysis of existing methods of providing services, contracting, collaborating,
and networking among providers and the extent and type of regulatory oversight of
licensed provider networks or licensed individual providers which is appropriate to
protect the public.

Legislative History

Source: L. 94: Entire article added, p. 1937, � 1, effective July 1.