Sen. Elizabeth Warren urges FTC to review CVS’ Oak Street Health deal

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is urging the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize CVS Health’s prepared acquisition of Medicare-focused main treatment provider Oak Road Overall health.

In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, the progressive senator wrote the deal could reduced high-quality of treatment and hike charges. 

She also pointed to other acquisitions – including UnitedHealth Group’s order of house health and fitness service provider LHC Team, Walgreens’ stake in main treatment firm VillageMD and its deal with CareCentrix, and Amazon’s acquisition of Just one Health care – as element of a drive towards vertical integration, “generating a number of massive health care conglomerates that control all aspects of patients’ health care journeys.”

CVS also owns insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark. Final year, the business announced programs to acquire property wellness platform Signify Wellbeing.

Warren mentioned the development of worth-based treatment preparations has the potential to make improvements to well being results and minimize prices, but she added a range of health care firms see “a major money-creating prospect,” precisely by getting principal treatment or dwelling wellbeing companies that just take Medicare Advantage strategies. 

“Provided the probable danger that vertical integration could guide to bigger healthcare rates and reduced high quality of treatment, the Federal Trade Fee (FTC) really should diligently scrutinize this offer, and other folks like it, and oppose any healthcare acquisition that would threaten levels of competition, maximize rates and decrease quality of care,” Warren wrote in the letter. “The FTC really should also retrospectively review similar consummated promotions and obstacle in court any mergers that have lessened levels of competition in violation of antitrust guidelines.”

CVS did not react to a request for comment.

THE Much larger Craze

Immediately after weeks of rumors, CVS verified it had signed a $10.6 billion deal to buy Oak Avenue in early February. It marked a different shift into the main care place for a major retailer, which has also witnessed activity from businesses like Walgreens, Walmart and Amazon.

Gurus have pointed out the expansion of retail healthcare could provide people much more access to treatment, as significant retail pharmacies have places across the U.S. But it really is also important for the corporations to construct believe in with sufferers as major care companies and established up superior treatment coordination workflows. 

“I assume that you can find a ton of positives to retail gamers in conditions of catering to consumer tastes and delivering treatment in a extra effortless way,” Sanjula Jain, senior vice president of market place strategy and main research officer at Trilliant Wellbeing, informed MobiHealthNews in December. “But for a lot of sophisticated care, acute care – that every American is heading to have to have at some point in their lifetime – there is a minor bit a lot more fragmentation.”

Tracy Chu will offer much more detail in the course of her HIMSS23 session “Automation Improves Digital Education and learning App Efficiency.” It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT at the South Developing, Degree 5, area S505.