FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1996                          (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

          JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WILL NOT CHALLENGE PROPOSAL
              TO FORM HOSPICE NETWORK IN NEW JERSEY

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice's Antitrust
Division said today that it would allow a group of New Jersey
hospice care providers to form a network that will act as an
intermediary for the solicitation and management of managed care
contracts between its members and third party payers.  
     The proposed network, to be called Hospice Network of New
Jersey Inc., will initially represent seven Medicare certified
hospice care providers.  A representative from the network would
act as an independent agent to provide a list of prices for
members' hospice care services to third party payers such as
employers and managed care plans. 
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Department's Antitrust Division, said that the network's
proposed activities are not likely to be anticompetitive because
the members of the network each operate in a distinct geographic
area and are not competitors.  
     The Department said that the network should provide
efficiency benefits by permitting third party payers to contract
with a group of hospice care providers through a single
representative.  The network may also result in efficiency
benefits from utilization review and quality assurance
monitoring.  
     The Department's position was stated in a business review
letter from Bingaman to counsel for the network.
     The letter explained that should network members expand
their services geographically in the future so that they become
competitors in local markets, decisions about competitively
sensitive matters will have to be made unilaterally or will have
to be related to significant economic integration among the
members.
     The seven initial members of the Hospice Network, all
located in New Jersey, are:
       Cumberland County Hospice Inc. of Vineland
       Samaritan Hospice Inc. of Moorestown
       Hunterdon Hospice Inc. of Flemington
       Center for Hope Hospice Inc. of Linden
       Hospice of Morris County Inc. of Morristown
       Valley Home Care Inc. of Ridgewood (Valley Hospice)
       The Hospice Inc. of Glen Ridge

     Under the Department's business review procedure, an
organization may submit a proposed action to the Antitrust
Division and receive a statement as to whether the Division will
challenge the action under the antitrust laws.  
     A file containing the business review request and the
Department's response may be examined in the Legal Procedure Unit
of the Antitrust Division, Room 215 North, Liberty Place,
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530.  After a 30-day
waiting period, the documents supporting the business review will
be added to the file.
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96-185