Political concern about mergers has led the Parliament to propose a moratorium on mergers, although associated legal instruments are not in place (Ministry of Health, 201 Id). Instead, the Minister of Health wants the Healthcare Authority (NZa) to carry out additional merger assessments in terms of quality and access (Ministry of Health, 2011c, d). However, having several institutions involved in merger assessments would increase unnecessarily regulatory uncertainty without improving the prevention of anticompetitive mergers. To ensure an effective hospital merger assessment, the Competition Authority should develop a clear methodology taking into account all relevant aspects of the problem (including consumer welfare concerns such as accessibility of care).