New Bipartisan Bill Will Break Structural Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare to Lower Drug Costs and Protect Patients
December 11, 2024 — Today, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced the Patients Before Monopolies Act, a groundbreaking bipartisan bill that will force health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to divest their pharmacy businesses within three years. The bill aims to eliminate the structural conflicts of interest that have driven independent pharmacies out of business, inflated drug prices, and harmed patient care. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) will introduce a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement endorsing the bill.
FTC and States Block Kroger-Albertsons in Historic Win for Competition and Communities
December 10, 2024 — This afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson granted the FTC and 9 state attorneys generals’ motion for preliminary injunction of the Kroger-Albertsons grocery mega-merger—blocking the largest grocery merger in history. In separate litigation in the state of Washington, WA Superior Court Judge Marshall Ferguson made the same decision in favor of the Washington State Attorney General, saying the merger would create a “colossus.” In response to both of these victories for the FTC and states opposing the merger, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
Ad Industry Mega-Merger Is a Brazen Bet on Lenience—Enforcers Must Scrutinize
December 10, 2024 — In response to news that leading advertising agency Omnicom Group has proposed acquiring rival Interpublic Group (IPG) at a $13.25 billion valuation—a deal that would combine two of the “Big Four” ad companies into the world’s largest ad agency—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
Nearly 20 Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Pass PBM Reform Before Lame Duck Ends
December 10, 2024 — Amid a growing bipartisan consensus on the need to stop the national crisis of pharmacy closures and rising drug prices by checking the power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the American Economic Liberties Project and 17 other advocacy organizations sent a letter yesterday to Democratic and Republican Congressional leadership endorsing several legislative solutions and urging Congress to pass this much-needed reform this session.
Economic Liberties Launches The Economic Populist Substack
December 10, 2024 — Today, the American Economic Liberties Project announced the launch of The Economic Populist, a new weekly Substack newsletter dedicated to leveraging the organization’s technical and legal expertise to break down how corporate power shapes Americans' day-to-day lives and provide a home for the anti-monopoly community to engage, learn, and connect.