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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is urging the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize CVS Health’s planned acquisition of Medicare-targeted main treatment service provider Oak Avenue Health and fitness.
In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, the progressive senator wrote the deal could decreased high-quality of care and hike fees.
She also pointed to other acquisitions – including UnitedHealth Group’s buy of house health and fitness provider LHC Group, Walgreens’ stake in major treatment enterprise VillageMD and its deal with CareCentrix, and Amazon’s acquisition of A person Healthcare – as portion of a push towards vertical integration, “producing a several substantial healthcare conglomerates that regulate all areas of patients’ healthcare journeys.”
CVS also owns insurer Aetna and pharmacy advantage supervisor CVS Caremark. Very last 12 months, the corporation declared options to buy dwelling wellbeing platform Signify Wellness.
Warren observed the expansion of value-dependent care arrangements has the opportunity to make improvements to overall health outcomes and slice expenses, but she additional a quantity of health care firms see “a significant revenue-creating possibility,” precisely by obtaining main care or household wellness providers that just take Medicare Benefit designs.
“Supplied the likely threat that vertical integration could lead to better healthcare rates and reduce top quality of care, the Federal Trade Fee (FTC) should really very carefully scrutinize this deal, and some others like it, and oppose any healthcare acquisition that would threaten levels of competition, improve costs and reduce high-quality of treatment,” Warren wrote in the letter. “The FTC should really also retrospectively assessment identical consummated bargains and challenge in courtroom any mergers that have reduced competitors in violation of antitrust legislation.”
CVS did not react to a ask for for comment.
THE Much larger Trend
Following weeks of rumors, CVS verified it experienced signed a $10.6 billion deal to obtain Oak Street in early February. It marked a further transfer into the key treatment room for a significant retailer, which has also viewed activity from providers like Walgreens, Walmart and Amazon.
Authorities have noted the enlargement of retail health care could provide patients far more entry to care, as big retail pharmacies have destinations throughout the U.S. But it is also vital for the providers to make trust with sufferers as primary treatment companies and set up far better treatment coordination workflows.
“I think that you will find a whole lot of positives to retail players in conditions of catering to shopper tastes and supplying treatment in a a lot more practical way,” Sanjula Jain, senior vice president of marketplace system and chief investigation officer at Trilliant Wellness, explained to MobiHealthNews in December. “But for a lot of complex care, acute treatment – that every American is going to require at some level in their lifetime – there is a minor bit more fragmentation.”
Tracy Chu will offer you far more element during her HIMSS23 session “Automation Improves Digital Education and learning Application Performance.” It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT at the South Making, Stage 5, room S505.
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