FTC Chair Lina Khan and Antitrust Division chief Jonathan Kanter have set in motion a revolution in antitrust. The explosions are about to start with attacks on mergers and the insulin supply chain.
PBMs as middlemen - between the producer and consumer, sucking money out of the system at the expense of both - hmmm, sounds a lot like the health insurance companies - between provider and "consumer" (also known, in the old days, as "patient"), sucking money out of the healthcare system -
In the case of many sectors we need more competition - in the case of PBMs and private health insurance companies, maybe we need elimination altogether ...
Matt, I see you have an article about the coming collapse of the cheerleading monopolist. The article is over two years old. What has happened in the meantime?
@Matt, one form CVS PBM anti-competitive gouge is quite devious: they have a de facto monopoly on 24-hour pharmaceutical retail through the CVS chain, and they leverage this to force people into monthly payment plans for recurring prescriptions, and put generic drug prices out of reach. Both the insurance company and CVS get a cut of this “monthly payment plan” scheme.
One way around is to buy generics in bulk at a non-CVS pharmacy. But this requires one to route around CVS’ monopoly of 24-hour pharma retail.
Since I think there is a clear (near-) monopoly here, the FTC or other regulators wouldn’t even need to resort to an atypical legal theory to launch a strike?
Re: new guidelines, if Khan and Kanter want to actually put them into practice they better start cracking: sorry to plant a dark cloud over a hopeful post, but astonishingly regular polling lately projects Trump *beating* Biden in 2024. And trials take years, right?
PBMs as middlemen - between the producer and consumer, sucking money out of the system at the expense of both - hmmm, sounds a lot like the health insurance companies - between provider and "consumer" (also known, in the old days, as "patient"), sucking money out of the healthcare system -
In the case of many sectors we need more competition - in the case of PBMs and private health insurance companies, maybe we need elimination altogether ...
Some good news for the economy, even if delivered by torpedo.
Matt, I see you have an article about the coming collapse of the cheerleading monopolist. The article is over two years old. What has happened in the meantime?
Thanks for the Interplace mention in your reading list!
That’s good news, definitely. Great piece.
@Matt, one form CVS PBM anti-competitive gouge is quite devious: they have a de facto monopoly on 24-hour pharmaceutical retail through the CVS chain, and they leverage this to force people into monthly payment plans for recurring prescriptions, and put generic drug prices out of reach. Both the insurance company and CVS get a cut of this “monthly payment plan” scheme.
One way around is to buy generics in bulk at a non-CVS pharmacy. But this requires one to route around CVS’ monopoly of 24-hour pharma retail.
Since I think there is a clear (near-) monopoly here, the FTC or other regulators wouldn’t even need to resort to an atypical legal theory to launch a strike?
Re: new guidelines, if Khan and Kanter want to actually put them into practice they better start cracking: sorry to plant a dark cloud over a hopeful post, but astonishingly regular polling lately projects Trump *beating* Biden in 2024. And trials take years, right?
Hey Matt, how about a post on the Rent-a-Bank schemes run by predatory lenders to escape state caps on interest rates?
Thanks Matt, nice to read some hopeful news for a change.