Regulators Must Block CVS-Signify Deal to Protect Patients and Physicians
Washington, D.C. — In response to CVS Health’s announced $8 billion acquisition of home care provider Signify Health, the American Economic Liberties Project today released the following statement.
“This is a dangerous deal that will let CVS Health add a fleet of 10,000 home doctors to an empire that already includes almost 10,000 pharmacies, 40,000 physicians, nurses, and physicians assistants, a dominant healthcare company, and a dominant pharmacy benefit manager,” said Sara Sirota, Policy Analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Allowing CVS to expand its market dominance will only harm patients seeking personalized and quality care, take power away from physicians, and create even more data privacy concerns in healthcare. Regulators should block this deal, and Congress should fully resource the antitrust agencies to halt the vertical integration merger frenzy eviscerating the healthcare industry.”
In July, New York State Attorney General Tish James announced an antitrust lawsuit against CVS Health, alleging that the corporation abused its market power by requiring hospitals and clinics to use a CVS subsidiary to refill prescriptions for discounted drugs. CVS was also recently ordered by federal judge to pay $650.5 million, together with Walgreens and Walmart, to two Ohio counties for its role in driving the opioid epidemic.
This acquisition comes as consolidation accelerates in the healthcare industry. Last week, Walgreens completed a $330 million majority stake acquisition in at-home care technology platform CareCentrix. In July, Amazon announced that it would be acquiring primary healthcare organization OneMedical for $3.9 billion — a deal which is currently undergoing scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission.
The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.