More Than 1,000 Petition FTC To Reject ESI/Medco Merger
Signers Assert Deal Is Bad For Health Care In America
WASHINGTON, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Preserve Community Pharmacy Access NOW! (PCPAN) coalition today announced that it has collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition urging Congress to oppose and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to reject the proposed merger between Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) and Medco Health Solutions, two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Signers of the petition say they support preserving community pharmacies and access to pharmacists – things that are put at risk by a merger that is not in the best interests of patients, employers or health care in America.
The outpouring of support comes on the heels of more than 100 businesses announcing their opposition to the $29 billion proposed merger. The FTC is currently reviewing the deal, and will soon decide whether or not it will be allowed to move forward.
"An overwhelming number of groups and individuals nationwide feel an Express Scripts and Medco merger would be a serious step in the wrong direction," said former Congresswoman Eva M. Clayton, chairwoman of the Preserve Community Pharmacy Access NOW! (PCPAN) coalition. "I am pleased that the FTC is taking a close look at this deal and hope that after thorough review Commissioners will see what so many others have been saying all along – that approving this merger would not benefit anyone except ESI and Medco, and simply cannot be allowed to move forward."
Last July, ESI and Medco announced a merger agreement that could take effect as soon as the first half of 2012. An approved merger would combine two of the nation's three largest PBMs, giving the consolidated mega-PBM the unfettered ability to increase prices and reduce access to pharmacy services. This would result in higher costs for prescription medications that would need to be absorbed by employer health care plans and patients. It would also result in decreased access to local community pharmacies that provide convenient and helpful services and the elimination of good pharmacy jobs throughout the country.
Elected officials including attorneys general in dozens of states, pharmacy service providers, consumer advocates, patient advocates and others have expressed concerns that approving this merger would result in increased costs for lesser quality health care. These are the same concerns expressed by petition signers.
"Approving this merger will give the consolidated entity tremendous power, enabling them to squeeze the health care system for their own profits – at the expense of patient choice, access and service," Clayton continued. "If you ask me, the will of the general public on this issue is clear. This harmful merger needs to be stopped."
Click here to view and sign the petition.
Preserve Community Pharmacy Access NOW!is a coalition of consumers, businesses and community-based pharmacists from across the country that have come together for the purpose of opposing the planned merger between Express Scripts Inc. and Medco Health Solutions Inc. PCPAN is a project of Pharmacy Choice and Access Now.
Contact:
Elizabeth Heaton
(703) 901-9706
[email protected]
SOURCE Preserve Community Pharmacy Access NOW!
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