What does the FTC’s ban on non compete clauses mean for healthcare?
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to approve a new final rule banning non compete agreements (NCAs) across the entire economy with very limited exceptions. This is as big a deal in health care as anywhere else: According to the American Medical Association (AMA), NCAs affect between 37-45% of physicians, and the FTC argues in the rule that anywhere from 35-75% of hospitals are under its jurisdiction. The FTC also claims a potential $194 billion in spending reductions in the healthcare sector over the next decade.
The final rule states that, under Section 5 of the FTC Act, “it is an unfair method of competition” for employers to “enter into [NCAs] with workers on or after the final rule’s effective date.” NCAs are clauses in contracts that prevent or restrict employees from working for an employer’s competitor for a given period and within a given geographic area after leaving the employer. An employer may include additional benefits, training, or wages to compensate the employee for taking an NCA, but may also require reimbursement for expenses (training, education, etc.) if the employee terminates the contract early.
The FTC’s rule makes all existing NCAs with workers unenforceable after the effective date except for senior executives. Regardless of your thoughts, giving this level of economy-wide power to unelected bureaucrats over private contractual arrangements is striking.
In this week’s commentary, Jackson Hammond, a Senior Policy Analyst at Paragon Health Institute, dives into what this means for physicians, medical facilities and healthcare in America. We also have the latest news and analysis from the last week, including:
- Kemp signs 2025 budget while also vetoing several other bills
- Farmers seeing bumper crop of Georgia peaches
- School choice remains popular as more states embrace it
- TikTok asks court to declare ban unconstitutional
– Kyle Wingfield
Friday’s Freshest
A day of reckoning for higher education?
People have long predicted a day of reckoning for American higher education, without success. So, far be it from me to believe I’ve finally divined it. But as I watched the anti-Israel protests on multiple college campuses – and reactions to those protests – it sure feels like change is in the air.
Georgia brewers say they’d have more success…in North Carolina
Georgia has slightly more than 11 million residents and, according to Georgia Craft Brewers Guild Executive Director Joseph Cortes, about 170 breweries. North Carolina has slightly fewer residents, 10.8 million, but has more than twice as many breweries, around 420. So why does North Carolina have so many more breweries?
Hybrid schools look to the future
Elementary and high school students alike need opportunities to learn from their failures. Hybrid schools help them do that. That was one of the lessons that Florida resident Toni Frallicciardi imparted as she attended the 2024 National Hybrid Schools Conference in Cobb County. They want to help parents and students develop new forms of K-12 schooling, outside the conventional education system.
Georgia elections are better-positioned than ever before
Georgia’s 16 electoral votes will be hotly contested given our new status as a swing state, and we can expect an equally bitter fight over the security and accessibility of our elections. Too bad, because election security and accessibility in Georgia ought to be settled issues by now.
Many people fail to take the next logical step in affecting change when it comes to government. Instead of repeatedly pushing the rock up the hill that is the federal government, Kimberley Strassel urges us to think more locally.
The Latest
Economy
Kemp signs Georgia’s fiscal 2025 budget
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed off on the state’s fiscal 2025 budget, a spending plan that includes pay raises for public school teachers and state law enforcement officers. The $66.8 billion budget allocates more than $15.5 billion for the Department of Education and roughly $4.2 billion for the Department of Transportation.
After disastrous 2023, a ‘bumper’ crop of Georgia peaches is coming
Trees covered with quarter-sized fruit and delicate pink flowers were blasted by last year’s freezes, leaving the promise of an ample harvest to rot. But this year has been the “exact opposite,” giving farmers and fruit lovers across the Peach State reason to rejoice. Aided by a relatively cool winter and a deep freeze-less spring, a “bumper” crop of Georgia’s trademark peaches should be heading to grocery stores and farmers markets soon.
Education
Highest-paying jobs right out of school
As college graduation nears for students across the nation, FOX Business took a look at what entry-level jobs will pay the most. It might not be surprising that a primary care physician topped the list with a median salary of $130,000. But the following top positions included a pharmacist, software architect, product manager and software engineer.
Majority of Americans continue to support ESAs and vouchers
Support for ESAs (71%) and vouchers (60%) among Americans remained steady in March. Only 10% and 25% of Americans oppose ESAs and vouchers, respectively. Parents’ support for these policies is even stronger. ESA support is not only strong, but diverse. For example, 73% of Democrats support ESAs, while Republican support is right behind at 72%.
Government accountability
Kemp vetoes bills that would have halted tax exemptions, others with ‘unintended’ consequences
On the final day to sign or veto legislation, Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed a homestead exemption because of a legislative typo. He also vetoed a measure that would ban non-U.S citizens from donating to Georgia state candidates or election campaigns and a measure that would have temporarily suspended a state sales tax exemption that sought to incentivize the creation of data centers.
Kemp signs ‘Second Chance Workforce Act’
Gov. Brian Kemp has signed legislation that proponents say will allow Georgians facing low-level municipal citations or misdemeanor charges to keep their driver’s licenses while they resolve their cases so they can drive to work. House Bill 926 allows traffic court judges to reinstate a person’s suspended license if they have attended court for a hearing or arraignment, rescheduled their court appearance or adjudicated their case.
Tybee Island city council to read revised ordinance over short-term rentals
Controversy over short term rentals, or STRs, on Tybee Island continues as the council has drafted a new ordinance that would eliminate the ability to transfer STR permits. This ordinance is very similar to the one that was introduced earlier this year. It’s just gone through the Planning Commission for workshopping.
Transportation
Dougherty County misses out on $558,000 in transportation funds
Dougherty County missed out on more than a half-million dollars in road improvement funds because, for the second consecutive year, county officials did not complete an annual audit required by the state of Georgia. The county’s interim administrator said the issue is not one of omission, but instead is the result of a glut in past-due audits being completed by a shrinking number of accounting firms.
Construction of new tower at Athens airport could coincide with new passenger service
At a recent meeting, members of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport Authority learned that a new control tower to be constructed with federal dollars could open within a year and a half to two years. That’s roughly the timeframe within which the airport is hoping to have new commercial passenger service in place for the first time since 2014.
2 major Georgia 400 improvement projects finished in Fulton County
Kimball Bridge Road over Georgia 400 and the Glenridge Connector ramps are officially open as of Wednesday. Drivers in Sandy Springs can now access the Glenridge Connector from Interstate 285 westbound and Georgia 400 southbound. The Glenridge Connector improvements are part of the Transform 285/400 improvement project which has been ongoing since 2017.
Bonus
TikTok asks court to declare ban unconstitutional
A new law banning TikTok if it doesn’t divorce its parent company is “obviously unconstitutional,” TikTok Inc. and ByteDance argue in a new federal court filing. The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed and signed into law late last month, singles out ByteDance and its subsidiary TikTok Inc., requiring the former to divest itself of the latter within 270 days. If ByteDance doesn’t, the TikTok app will be banned in the U.S.
Delta, Southwest get top marks for customer satisfaction survey
Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines received top marks in J.D. Power’s North American airlines customer satisfaction survey for 2024. The firm’s results, announced Wednesday, noted that airlines investing in their staff are seeing more satisfied customers despite higher airfares compared to a year ago.
Disney and WBD launch streaming bundle combining Disney+, Hulu and Max
Seeking further scale in the streaming business, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Wednesday plans for a cross-studio bundle that would combine Disney+ and Disney’s Hulu with Warner Bros.’ Max, which includes an array of programming from that studio and its premium service, HBO.
Quotes of the Week
“In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college.” – Joseph Sobran
“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” – James A. Garfield
“If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.” – Thomas Aquinas