FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1995                          (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

      JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WILL NOT CHALLENGE HEALTH CARE PLAN
           TO PROVIDE A WISCONSIN SUBACUTE-CARE NETWORK


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four Wisconsin nursing home operators
will be allowed to establish a statewide network of facilities
that will offer care beyond what is normally available in nursing
homes under a proposal approved today by the Department of
Justice's Antitrust Division.
     The proposal by Hillhaven Corporation and three other
Wisconsin nursing home operators in Madison, Eau Claire and La
Crosse, to establish the statewide Wisconsin Subacute Preferred
Provider Network will likely reduce health care costs and provide
consumers with a greater choice of care, the Department said.
     The Department's position was stated in a business review
letter to Hillhaven's counsel from Assistant Attorney General
Anne Bingaman, in charge of the Antitrust Division.
     Hillhaven operates nursing homes in various parts of
Wisconsin, and in other localities throughout the U.S.  At its
Wisconsin nursing home facilities, Hillhaven offers, in addition
to skilled nursing care, some subacute-care beds for patients who
can safely be taken out of an acute-care hospital setting but who
require a more intensive level of care than normally is provided
in a nursing home.
     In order to be able to offer that innovative service to
health plans and insurers on a statewide basis, Hillhaven plans
to enter into a subacute-care network joint venture with other
nursing home operators in areas of Wisconsin where Hillhaven does
not have facilities of its own.
     Bingaman's letter explained that the proposed joint venture
will not undermine competition because none of the four joint
venture participants operates a nursing home or subacute-care
facility in any local market in which any of the other
participants operates such facilities.
     Under the Department's business review procedure, an
organization may submit a proposed action to the Antitrust
Division and receive a statement 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 3233, 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.
                               ###
95-171