S. 2836 — POP Act

This section prohibits any person from directly or indirectly owning, operating, or controlling both (1) an applicable provider or a management services organization contracting with one and (2) a health insurance issuer. It requires violators to divest either the provider (or management services organization) or the health insurance issuer within two years of enactment for pre-enactment acquisitions or within one year of acquisition thereafter. This section authorizes the HHS Inspector General, DOJ Antitrust Assistant Attorney General, FTC, or state attorneys general to bring civil actions in federal district court for injunctive relief, divestiture, and disgorgement of revenues from health care services during violations, with disgorged funds deposited in an FTC-administered fund for community health care needs. This section requires reporting of required divestitures to the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (15 U.S.C. 18a) without regard to monetary thresholds; tolls divestiture periods during any HSR waiting period; and directs FTC and DOJ review of each divestiture's and subsequent acquisition's effects on competition, financial viability, and public interest. It directs the FTC to promulgate implementing rules and states that the provision does not limit other enforcement authorities. This section amends SSA §1857 (42 U.S.C. 1395w-27) to add a new subsection (j) prohibiting CMS from contracting with or paying Medicare Advantage organizations offering MA or MA-PD plans that have prohibited common ownership, effective for plan years beginning January 1, 2026. It requires such organizations to certify compliance and information submission to CMS and deems payment claims from violators as false claims under the False Claims Act.