U.S. Department
of Justice
DOJ/Antitrust (Digest of Business Reviews 1992)
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DIGEST OF BUSINESS REVIEWS
1992
| 92-1 | Experience Information Bureau, Inc. | 1/14/92 |
| Insurance | Information exchange |
Facts: EIB, a corporation formed to serve as a clearing house for underwriters of credit life and disability insurance, proposed to collect and distribute to subscribing insurance underwriters--without comment or recommendation--historical loss data and loss ratios relating to lending institutions that sell policies providing for the payment of loans if a borrower dies or is disabled. EIB will be open to all insurance carriers.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-2 | Affiliated Distributors | 5/5/92 |
| Electrical | Equipment Joint venture; Competitive bidding |
Facts: AD, whose membership is comprised of electrical equipment wholesale distributing companies typically having locations in one or two states, proposed a joint bidding
arrangement that would permit its members to compete for sales to manufacturers with locations in several different parts of the country that prefer to enter into contracts with a single supplier. Currently, these companies are served primarily by four national electrical equipment wholesale distributors. AD's owners are not engaged in the business of distributing electrical equipment.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-3 | Automotive Service Association of Michigan, Inc. | 5/5/92 |
| Automobile repair; Automobile products | Joint venture; Group purchasing |
Facts: ASA, a nonprofit corporation whose members are independent automotive service and repair shops located in Michigan, proposed to make available a coupon book authorizing price discounts offered by participating auto parts suppliers on purchases of specific auto parts. The coupon book will be available for purchase by ASA members and nonmembers alike at an identical price.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-4 | Hyatt Imler Ott & Blount, P.C. | 6/12/92 |
| Health care | Information exchange |
Facts: HIOB, a professional corporation of certified public accountants located in Atlanta, Georgia, proposed to compile, analyze, and publish historical data concerning the list prices charged by hospitals in Georgia for selected services. Participation in the program by individual hospitals would be entirely voluntary.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-5 | Advanced Reactor Corporation | 9/2/92 |
| Nuclear plant | Joint research project |
Facts: ARC, a nonprofit corporation composed of 16 electric utilities, the U. S. Department of Energy, and the Electric Power Research Institute, proposed to enter into a joint venture to support research and development of standardized designs for nuclear power plants.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-6 | Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (U.S.A.), Inc. | 10/22/92 |
| Petroleum Shipping | Price/Fee review; Trade association |
Facts: ASBA, a nonprofit trade association of ship brokers and agents, proposed to organize and administer the Tanker Broker Panel. The Panel is to assist oil companies in their internal cost accounting by providing oil companies with market-based rate estimates for intracompany cargo movements.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-7 | Transplant Associates | 10/26/92 |
| Health Care | Preferred provider organization; Information exchange |
Facts: TA, a provider-based preferred provider organization with approximately 85 member physicians who work in teams to perform kidney and liver transplant procedures at Baylor University Medical Center, proposed to contract with third-party accounting and research firms to gather data about its members' transplant charges and prepare a statistical analysis of the average price of given transplant procedures. TA would use the analysis to evaluate fixed-fee contract proposals submitted by third-party payers.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-8 | Super Efficient Refrigerator Program | 12/1/92 |
| Appliances | Horizontal Agreement (Misc.); Vertical Practice (Misc.) |
Facts: SERP, a not-for-profit corporation whose members include investor-owned and municipal electric utilities and a federal power authority, proposed to provide an approximately $30 million incentive to a manufacturer that develops and markets models of more energy efficient residential refrigerators that are free of chloroflurocarbons.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.
| 92-9 | Southeastern Peanut Association | 12/31/92 |
| Peanuts | Standards Program |
Facts: The SEPA, an association of the major peanut shellers located in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, proposed voluntary trading rules that would establish general contract terms, grading standards, shipping instructions, methods of resolving weight discrepancies, methods of sampling and handling rejections, and arbitration procedures in the purchase and sale of farmer stock peanuts.
Response: No present intention to challenge the proposal.