Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia will hear this week from several friend of the court (amicus
curiae) witnesses opposed to the nearly $70 billion acquisition of Aetna
by CVS Health Corp regarding anti-competitive concerns raised by the
merger.
Amici witnesses from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the American
Medical Association (AMA), Consumer Action and U.S. PIRG will testify
this week regarding the negative impact the merger may have on patient
and health care consumer choice in accessing medical care and pharmacy
services.
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–To the benefit of both patients and health care consumers nationwide, a
federal judge will hold an evidentiary hearing—the first of its kind—in
what is known as a Tunney Act proceeding—to consider opposition to the
pending $69 billion merger of Aetna and CVS Health Corp. that was voiced
by friends of the court (amicus curiae), including AIDS Healthcare
Foundation (AHF).
The Tunney Act requires that merger settlements like that proposed
between DOJ (Department of Justice) and CVS/Aetna be reviewed by a
federal judge to ensure that the conditions imposed on the merger
sufficiently address the competitive harms identified by the DOJ.
In an order in April, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia invited the amici to propose witnesses to
testify at the hearing. The court also allowed the proponents of the
merger to propose witnesses in rebuttal.
Amici witnesses from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the American
Medical Association (AMA), Consumer Action and U.S. PIRG (U.S. Public
Interest Research Group) will testify this week regarding the negative
impact the merger may have on patient and health care consumer choice in
accessing medical care and pharmacy services.
“As the largest nonprofit provider of HIV and AIDS treatment in the
country, AHF is very concerned about the CVS/Aetna merger, which will
combine the largest pharmacy chain and one of the largest PBMs with the
third-largest health insurer, creating a mega company that will be
powerfully positioned to harm independent pharmacies, patient choice,
quality of patient care, and competition in general,” said Laura
Boudreau, Chief of Operations/Risk Management and Quality
Improvement. “For HIV patients, the key to remaining healthy is adhering
to their sometime complex medicine regimes. This can be especially hard
for patients who face obstacles like stigma, comorbidities, and social
determinants. The patients’ trusted providers—doctors as well as
pharmacists—play a crucial role in helping patients overcome these
obstacles. Consolidations of PBMs, pharmacy chains, and insurers
threaten to break up the patients’ care teams and push HIV patients into
faceless, nonspecialized constructs like minute clinics and meds-by-mail
order that will make adherence even more difficult.”
The hearings are set to take place this week in Judge Leon’s courtroom
in Washington from June 4th to June 6th.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over
1.1 million people in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin
America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn
more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare
and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.
Contacts
WASHINGTON
John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy, AHF
+1.202.774.4854
[cell] [email protected]
LOS ANGELES
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF
+1.323.791.5526
[cell] +.323.308.1833 [work] [email protected]
