Premier (PINC) Risk Analysis

Our business, financial condition and results of operations depend upon conditions affecting the healthcare industry generally and hospitals and health systems particularly, as well as our ability to increase the number of programs and services that we sell to our members and other customers. The life sciences and healthcare industry is highly regulated by federal and state authorities and is subject to changing political, economic and regulatory influences. Factors such as changes in reimbursement policies for healthcare expenses, consolidation in the healthcare industry, regulation, litigation and general economic conditions affect the purchasing practices, operations and the financial health of healthcare organizations. In particular, changes in regulations affecting the healthcare industry, such as increased regulation of the purchase and sale of medical products, tariffs, new quality measurement and payment models, data privacy and security, government price controls, modification or elimination of applicable regulatory safe harbors, regulation of third-party administrators or restrictions on permissible discounts and other financial arrangements, could require us to make unplanned modifications of our products and services, result in delays or cancellations of orders or reduce funds and demand for our products and services. In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the ACA. The ACA is a sweeping measure designed to expand access to affordable health insurance, control healthcare spending and improve healthcare quality. In addition, many states have adopted or are considering changes in healthcare laws or policies in part due to state budgetary shortfalls. The ACA set the industry moving in a clear direction on access to health insurance, payment, quality and cost management. The 2016 election of Donald Trump with unified Republican control of government initially caused a significant re-direction of government policy and resulting uncertainty. In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order waiving various enforcement provisions under the ACA. While efforts to repeal and replace the ACA failed to pass the Senate in 2017, continued regulatory changes impact the direction of the law, which impact both our member healthcare providers and our business. The 2018 election resulted in renewed uncertainty with the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives, while the Senate remained Republican controlled. Pending the upcoming 2020 Presidential and congressional elections in November 2020, and potentially thereafter, we are likely to experience another wave of uncertainty with regard to the ACA. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA brought by a group of state Attorneys General during the 2020-2021 term. A decision in the case will not occur until February 2021, at the earliest. This uncertainty as to the law's future, or the possible amendment or replacement of the law in the future, could adversely affect our business. Moreover, the Trump administration continues to advance new reforms related to value-based payment, the physician payment system, 340B, provider and supplier price transparency, drug pricing, tariffs and the structure of healthcare regulation, which are apart from changes to the ACA. Taken together, this environment has created significant uncertainty on the overall outlook for the ACA, directions in state laws that also impact healthcare providers, as well as new regulatory challenges. This environment is creating risks for healthcare providers and our business that could adversely affect our business and financial performance.

Anti-Kickback Regulations We are subject to federal and state laws and regulations designed to protect patients, government healthcare programs and private health plans from fraudulent and abusive activities. These laws include anti-kickback restrictions and laws prohibiting the submission of false or fraudulent claims. These laws are complex, and their application to our specific products, services and relationships may not be clear and may be applied to our business in ways that we do not anticipate. Federal and state regulatory and law enforcement authorities have over time increased enforcement activities with respect to Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse regulations and other reimbursement laws and rules. From time to time, we and others in the healthcare industry have received inquiries or requests to produce documents in connection with such activities. We could be required to expend significant time and resources to comply with these requests, and the attention of our management team could be diverted to these efforts. Furthermore, if we are found to be in violation of any federal or state fraud and abuse laws, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties and we could be excluded from participating in federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The occurrence of any of these events could significantly harm our business, financial performance and financial condition. Provisions in Title XI of the Social Security Act, commonly referred to as the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, prohibit the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of remuneration, directly or indirectly, in return for the referral of patients or arranging for the referral of patients, or in return for the recommendation, arrangement, purchase, lease or order of items or services that are covered, in whole or in part, by a federal healthcare program such as Medicare or Medicaid. The definition of "remuneration" has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value such as gifts, discounts, rebates, waiver of payments or providing anything at less than its fair market value. Many states have adopted similar prohibitions against kickbacks and other practices that are intended to influence the purchase, lease or ordering of healthcare items and services regardless of whether the item or service is covered under a governmental health program or private health plan. Although certain statutory and regulatory safe harbors exist, these safe harbors are narrow and often difficult to comply with. Congress has appropriated an increasing amount of funds in recent years to support enforcement activities aimed at reducing healthcare fraud and abuse. We cannot assure you that our arrangements will be protected by such safe harbors or that such increased enforcement activities will not directly or indirectly have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Any determination by a state or federal agency that any of our activities violate any of these laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, could require us to change or terminate some portions of our operations or business or could disqualify us from providing services to healthcare providers doing business with government programs and, thus, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. CMS has provided specific guidance on the proper treatment on Medicare cost reports of revenue distributions received from GPOs, including us. To assist our members that report their costs to Medicare to comply with these guidelines, such members are required under the terms of the Premier Group Purchasing Policy to appropriately reflect all elements of value received in connection with our IPO on their cost reports. We furnish applicable reports to such members setting forth the amount of such value, to assist their compliance with such cost reporting requirements. Any determination by a state or federal agency that the provision of such elements of value violate any of these laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, could require us to change or terminate some portions of our operations or business, or could disqualify us from providing services to healthcare providers doing business with government programs, and, thus could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We periodically receive and respond to questions from government agencies on various matters, and we responded to an informal request in July 2014 from the HHS Office of Inspector General to analyze and discuss how the GPO Participation Agreements comply with the discount safe harbor to the Anti-Kickback Statute. We have had no further correspondence or interaction, oral or written, with the HHS Office of Inspector General regarding Anti-Kickback Statute compliance since that time. There is no safe harbor to the Anti-Kickback Statute that is applicable in its entirety across all of the agreements with our members, and no assurance can be given that the HHS Office of Inspector General or other regulators or enforcement authorities will agree with our assessment. Any determination by a state or federal agency that the terms, agreements and related communications with members, or our relationships with our members violates the Anti-Kickback Statute or any other federal or state laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, could require us to change or terminate some portions of our operations or business and could disqualify us from providing services to healthcare providers doing business with government programs and, thus, result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. False Claims Regulations Our business is also subject to numerous federal and state laws that forbid the submission or "causing the submission" of false or fraudulent information or the failure to disclose information in connection with the submission and payment of claims for reimbursement to Medicare, Medicaid, other federal healthcare programs or private health plans. In particular, the False Claims Act, or FCA, prohibits a person from knowingly presenting or causing to be presented a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval by an officer, employee or agent of the United States. In addition, the FCA prohibits a person from knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to such a claim. Violations of the FCA may result in treble damages, significant monetary penalties and other collateral consequences, potentially including exclusion from participation in federally funded healthcare programs. The minimum and maximum per claim monetary damages for FCA violations occurring on or after November 2, 2015 and assessed after June 19, 2020 are from $11,665 to $23,331 per claim, respectively, and will be periodically readjusted for inflation. If enforcement authorities find that we have violated the FCA, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Pursuant to the ACA, a claim that includes items or services resulting from a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the FCA. These laws and regulations may change rapidly and it is frequently unclear how they apply to our business. Errors in claims submitted by our pharmacy benefits management business, as well as errors created by our products or consulting services that relate to entry, formatting, preparation or transmission of claim or cost report information by our members may be determined or alleged to be in violation of these laws and regulations. Any failure of our businesses or our products or services to comply with these laws and regulations, or the assertion that any of our relationships with suppliers or members violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and therefore caused the submission of false or fraudulent claims, could (i) result in substantial civil or criminal liability, (ii) adversely affect demand for our services, (iii) invalidate all or portions of some of our member contracts, (iv) require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, (v) require us to refund portions of our services fees, (vi) cause us to be disqualified from serving members doing business with government payers, and (vii) have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. ERISA Regulatory Compliance As a threshold matter, the obligation for compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), the ACA, the Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (together with its amendments related to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, "HIPAA"), the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and other similar laws governing self-funded group health plans (collectively "Employee Benefit Laws") generally rests with the our clients to whom we provide third party administrative services (TPA) services). That is, employers/clients that sponsor group health plans generally bear this Employee Benefit Law compliance obligation, rather than entities, like us, that provide TPA services related to the group health plans.  In certain cases, however, TPAs to ERISA plans can become "co-fiduciaries" with their clients and, therefore, can be liable for ERISA compliance in a limited capacity.  We could become a co-fiduciary either by (1) contractually obligating us to be an ERISA fiduciary or (2) by acting as an ERISA fiduciary based on functions performed.  Under ERISA, fiduciary status flows from actions, and TPAs who exercise any discretion over plan administration or exercise any discretion over plan funds are often held to be "functional fiduciaries" with respect to (and limited to) the functions performed that trigger fiduciary status. We undertake no express liability under ERISA for our clients' ERISA-governed plans in our template contracts. However, deviations from the template contained in final contracts from this standard language could subject us to liability for breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA (and related claims, such as ERISA prohibited transactions).

Continued economic and political conditions in the United States could result in changes in U.S. tax laws beyond those enacted in connection with the TCJA on December 22, 2017 and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES") on March 27, 2020. The full impact of CARES and the ongoing regulatory interpretations thereunder are not known at this time and may have an adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows and profitability. Further changes to U.S. tax laws could impact how U.S. corporations are taxed. Although we cannot predict whether or in what form such changes will pass, if enacted into law, they could have a material impact on our effective tax rate, income tax expense, ability to fully realize anticipated tax benefits that correspond to our fixed payment obligations associated with the acceleration of our tax receivable agreement ("TRA"), deferred tax assets, results of operations, cash flows and profitability.

Income tax returns that we file are subject to review and examination. We recognize the benefit of income tax positions we believe are more likely than not to be sustained upon challenge by a tax authority. If any tax authority successfully challenges our positions or if we lose a material tax dispute, our effective tax rate on our earnings could increase substantially and result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

As of July 31, 2020, six members of our 15-member Board of Directors were affiliated with our GPO members. Certain of our GPO members could have business interests that may conflict with those of the other member-owners, which may make it difficult for us to pursue strategic initiatives that require consensus among our GPO members. In addition, our relationship with our GPO members could create conflicts of interest among the GPO members, or between the GPO members and us, in a number of areas relating to our ongoing relationships. For example, certain of our products and services compete (or may compete in the future) with various products and services of our GPO members. Except as set forth in the GPO participation agreements, there are not any formal dispute resolution procedures in place to resolve conflicts between us and a GPO member or between or among GPO members. If we are unable to resolve any actual or potential conflicts between us and a GPO member, or if we are forced to resolve one or more conflicts on terms that are less favorable to us, we may experience a material adverse effect on our business operations, financial condition and results of operations.

As of August 11, 2020, six members of our Board of Directors are employees of GPO members. In addition, as of August 11, 2020, our GPO members beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 47% of our outstanding shares of Premier, Inc. Class A common stock. Based on their holdings as of August 11, 2020, our GPO members may have significant influence in election of the members of our Board of Directors and other matters requiring action by our stockholders, including amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other corporate transactions even if such actions are not favored by our other stockholders. This concentration of ownership may also prevent a change in the composition of our Board of Directors or a change in control of our company that could deprive other stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Because of the large amount of data that we collect and manage, it is possible that hardware failures or errors in our systems could result in data loss or corruption or cause the information that we collect to be incomplete or contain inaccuracies that our members regard as significant. Complex software such as ours may contain errors or failures that are not detected until after the software is introduced or updates and new versions are released. Despite testing by us, from time to time we have discovered defects or errors in our software, and such defects or errors may be discovered in the future. Any defects or errors could expose us to risk of liability to members and the government and could cause delays in the introduction of new products and services, result in increased costs and diversion of development resources, require design modifications, decrease market acceptance or member satisfaction with our products and services or cause harm to our reputation. Furthermore, our members might use our software together with products from other companies. As a result, when problems occur, it might be difficult to identify the source of the problem. Even when our software does not cause these problems, the existence of these errors might cause us to incur significant costs, divert the attention of our technical personnel from our product development efforts, impact our reputation and lead to significant member relations problems. Moreover, our data centers and service provider locations store and transmit critical member data that is essential to our business. While these locations are chosen for their stability, failover capabilities and system controls, we do not directly control the continued or uninterrupted availability of every location. In addition to the services we provide from our offices, we have migrated the majority of our data center operations to a third-party data-hosting facility. Data center facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures, acts of terrorism, acts of war, and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism, cyber-attacks and similar misconduct. Despite precautions taken at these facilities, the occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions in our service. These service interruption events could impair our ability to deliver services or deliverables or cause us to fail to achieve service levels required in agreements with our members, which could negatively affect our ability to retain existing members and attract new members.

GNYHA was our largest GPO member owner prior to the acquisition of the assets of Acurity, Inc. and Nexera, Inc. on February 28, 2020 at which time we acquired the individual GPO participation agreements of the members of GNYHA. Excluding GNYHA, our top five members comprised approximately 13% of our consolidated net revenues and approximately 12% of our gross administrative fee revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. The sudden loss of any significant member or a number of smaller members that are participants in our group purchasing programs or a material change in revenue share or other economic terms we have with such member or members could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, certain of our significant members are themselves GPOs with their own respective direct contracting relationships, including relationships with some of our other members. The sudden loss of any of these members may also result in increased competition for our Supply Chain Services segment and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our success will depend on the willingness of existing and potential new members to increase their use of our clinical analytics products and services that are SaaS- or licensed-based. Many companies have invested substantial resources to integrate established enterprise software into their businesses and therefore may be reluctant or unwilling to switch to our products and services. Furthermore, some companies may have concerns regarding the risks associated with the security and reliability of the technology delivery model associated with these services. If companies do not perceive the benefits of our products and services, then the market for these products and services may not expand as much or develop as quickly as we expect, which would significantly adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.