The General Assembly of North Carolina makes the following findings:
(1) That technological and scientific developments in health care have enhanced the prospects for further improvement in the quality of care provided to North Carolina citizens.
(2) That the cost of improved technology and improved scientific methods for the provision of health care contributes substantially to the increasing cost of health care. Cost increases make it increasingly difficult for physicians in rural areas of North Carolina to offer care.
(3) That cooperative agreements among physicians, hospitals, and others for the provision of health care services may foster improvements in the quality of health care for North Carolina citizens, moderate increases in cost, and improve access to needed services in rural areas of North Carolina.
(4) That physicians are often in the best position to identify and structure cooperative arrangements that enhance quality of care, improve access, and achieve cost-efficiency in the provision of care.
(5) That federal and State antitrust laws may prohibit or discourage cooperative arrangements that are beneficial to North Carolina citizens, despite their potential for or actual reduction in competition, and that such agreements should be permitted and encouraged.
(6) That competition as currently mandated by federal and State antitrust laws should be supplanted by a regulatory program to permit and encourage cooperative agreements between physicians or between physicians, hospitals, and others, that are beneficial to North Carolina citizens when the benefits of cooperative agreements outweigh their disadvantages caused by their potential or actual adverse effects on competition.
(7) That regulatory as well as judicial oversight of cooperative agreements should be provided to ensure that the benefits of cooperative agreements permitted and encouraged in North Carolina outweigh any disadvantages attributable to any reduction in competition likely to result from the agreements. (1995, c. 395, s. 2.)
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Last modified: March 23, 2014