FTC and DOJ Direct Agency Heads to Identify Anticompetitive Regulations for Elimination—Including in Health Care

President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14267, “Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers” (“EO 14267”), requires agency heads to provide by June 18, 2025, a list of anticompetitive regulations to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate the review and possible elimination of these regulations.

In furtherance of EO 14267, the DOJ recently launched an Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force, and the FTC issued a Request for Information inviting members of the public to identify regulations with anticompetitive effects. 

On May 5, 2025, the FTC and DOJ sent a jointly prepared letter (“joint letter”) to various agency heads that further emphasized the requirements of EO 14267. The joint letter directs agency heads to identify regulations that:

• “create or facilitate the creation of monopolies;
• create unnecessary barriers to entry for new market participants;
• limit competition or have the effect of limiting competition between competing entities;
• create or facilitate licensure or accreditation requirements that unduly limit competition;
• unnecessarily limit companies’ ability to compete for agency procurements; or
• otherwise impose anticompetitive restraints or distortions on the operation of the free market.”

The joint letter goes on to state that anticompetitive regulations can be found across the federal government, pointing to several industries, including health care. In this regard, the joint letter states the following:

Federal regulations in the healthcare sector, especially those promulgated under the Affordable Care Act, may have the effect of pushing low-cost insurance plans out of the market and inducing vertical consolidation that raises prices, while burdensome pharmaceutical regulations may delay the introduction of new, more affordable medicines.

No specific regulations were identified, but it is reasonable to expect health care regulations generally to be targeted for potential elimination soon.

* * *

For additional information about the issues discussed in this Antitrust Byte, or if you have any other antitrust concerns, please contact the attorneys listed on this page or the Epstein Becker Green attorney who regularly handles your legal matters.