A federal court ruled this week that the merger between Penn State Health and Pinnacle Health could move forward.  The Federal Trade Commission and Pennsylvania Attorney General had contested the merger saying it would result in a monopoly.

The court disagreed ruling that both healthsystems attract patients from beyond a four-county area.  The decision also shut down the government's argument that the merger would end up costing patients more money.

WITF's Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen has been closely following the case and appears on this episode of Smart Talk to explain what it all means.

(Both Penn State Health and Pinnacle Health are financial supporters of WITF programming, including Transforming Health and Smart Talk).

Ben Allen also explained in this recent Facebook Live video how the proposed merger can impact people in Central Pennsylvania.

WITF's Ben Allen