The American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to withdraw its proposed rule that would ban noncompete clauses, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Illinois, Maryland, and New York.

• Illinois: AHA on Wednesday sent a letter urging FTC to withdraw its proposed rule that would ban noncompete clauses in employment contracts. "The proposed regulation errs by seeking to create a one-size-fits-all rule for all employees across all industries, especially because Congress has not granted the FTC the authority to act in such a sweeping manner," AHA wrote. "Even if the FTC had the legal authority to issue this proposed rule, now is not the time to upend the health care labor markets with a rule like this." In its letter, AHA said FTC must make the hospital field — or at least doctors and senior hospital executives — exempt from its ban. "[T]he weight of the existing research indicates that non-compete agreements for certain categories of employees are beneficial … any final rule must take full account of both the existing economic literature and the real-world experience of hospitals and health systems, which has been that non-compete agreements for physicians and senior executives incentivize recruitment, retention, training, investments in career-building (e.g., marketing and building individual physician practices) and the sharing of a broad range of proprietary information," the AHA wrote. If finalized, the ban will only apply to for-profit hospitals. In addition, AHA urged FTC "to exempt for-profit hospitals from any final rule it issues until it can better study the impact that applying the rule in an uneven fashion, as the law requires, would have on labor markets that include both non-profit and for-profit hospitals." (AHA News, 2/22)

• Maryland: FDA last week proposed that oat, soy, and almond drinks do not have to remove the word milk from their names — a move that aims to end a longstanding conflict between the dairy industry and the plant-based beverage companies. Most consumers know that liquid extracts from plants do not come from the udder of a cow, but FDA recommended that packaging for plant-based drinks clarify the differences between their products and cow's milk. While FDA's new labeling recommendations are described as voluntary, industry experts anticipate that most companies will comply. After another period of public comment, FDA plans to issue a final decision. "Today's draft guidance was developed to help address the significant increase in plant-based milk alternative products that we have seen become available in the marketplace over the past decade," said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. "The draft recommendations issued today should lead to providing consumers with clear labeling to give them the information they need to make informed nutrition and purchasing decisions on the products they buy for themselves and their families." (Jacobs, New York Times, 2/23)

• New York: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on Thursday announced that residents and fellows at Montefiore Medical Center now have the right to unionize after the hospital rejected their request in November. In the fall, the residents and fellows announced their intention to unionize and asked the hospital to voluntarily recognize the union. A few days later, the hospital rejected their proposal, and the process moved to a National Labor Relations Board ballot election. As of Thursday, over 80% of the residents had voted to unionize, according to the SEIU committee. During the fall, the residents and fellows said that they wanted to work with the hospital to improve staff ratios and reduce the number of hours typically worked from 80 to 70 hours per week to help ease burnout. "After being one of the last programs in the Bronx without union representation, winning a seat at the table and joining our unionized peers is long overdue," said Isuree Katugampala, a third-year pediatrics resident at Montefiore. (Neber, Crain's New York Business/Modern Healthcare, 2/23)