US: Opposition grows against Aetna-CVS tie-up

A proposed merger between Aetna and CVS has come under fire from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).

In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, AAPS President-elect Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD, said that the merger would be bad for patients.

“Mergers can decrease competition and such mergers are not in the interest of our patients,” Singleton wrote.

The merger would combine the third-largest health insurer and the largest national pharmacy chain, which has the dominant pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), CVS Caremark, the AAPS wrote in a statement.

“This merger is particularly troubling in light of the highly concentrated national market for PBM services and current lack of transparency in drug pricing and PBM contracts,” Singleton wrote.

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