BESSEMER, Ala., Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The federal government should prevent UnitedHealth Group's Optum division from acquiring Amedisys home health, according to a letter from American Pharmacy Cooperative, Inc. (APCI) to the U.S. Department of Justice.

根据美国药房合作公司（APCI）给美国司法部的一封信，联邦政府应防止UnitedHealth集团的Optum部门获得Amedisys家庭健康。

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APCI opposes the acquisition as it represents 'a further descent into an already vertically integrated healthcare supply chain in which the largest insurers and their affiliated pharmacy benefit managers are able to profit off conflicts of interest and misaligned incentives,' APCI Director of Healthcare Policy and General Counsel Reybold wrote in the Oct.

APCI反对收购，因为它代表了“进一步下降到已经垂直整合的医疗保健供应链，其中最大的保险公司及其附属的药房福利经理能够从利益冲突和不一致的激励中获利，”APCI医疗政策总监Reybold总律师在Oct写道。

18 letter..

18封信。。

The acquisition represents a further descent into an already vertically integrated healthcare supply chain.

此次收购代表了进一步下降到已经垂直整合的医疗保健供应链。

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The letter also urges the Justice Department to consider potential unfair methods of competition under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act in addition to traditional antitrust analysis as it reviews the acquisition.

这封信还敦促司法部在审查收购时，除了传统的反托拉斯分析之外，还应根据“联邦贸易委员会法”第5条考虑潜在的不公平竞争方法。

'The implications of insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) owning prescribers and potentially controlling what procedures are ordered and what drugs are prescribed is chilling,' Reybold said. 'Traditional merger analysis has failed to prevent insurers from owning or being owned by PBMs and has failed to stop PBMs from owning pharmacies, and now it is allowing acquisitions of prescriber and home health entities by large insurers and PBMs.

Reybold说：“保险公司和药房福利经理（PBM）拥有处方者并可能控制订购的程序和处方药的含义是令人冷淡的。”传统的合并分析未能阻止保险公司拥有或拥有PBM，也未能阻止PBM拥有药房，现在它允许大型保险公司和PBM收购处方者和家庭健康实体。

America's healthcare system is at stake and the DOJ and FTC need every tool at their disposal to protect Americans from these practices and Section 5 of the FTC is one of those tools.'In the letter, Reybold referenced studies from several governmental agencies including a recent MedPAC report that found vertical integration resulted in higher costs to seniors in Medicare Part D; that PBMs often paid their vertically integrated pharmacies more than non-affiliated pharmacies; and that PBMs denied Medicare Part D beneficiaries $50 billion in drug maker rebates at the pharmacy counter in 2021 alone.The letter also focused heavily on rebate practices of vertically integrated PBMs and their role in rising prices for patients in urging scrutiny of the acquisition.'[L]arge PBMs are using their market power and restrictive formulary practices to drive drug maker rebate revenue, deprive beneficiaries of the benefit of drug maker rebates/discounts at the pharmacy counter, drive beneficiaries to purchase more expensive brand name drugs, and in many cases charging beneficiaries cost shares that exceed the net price of the drugs after rebates,' the letter stated.'APCI has been one of the loudest and most consistent voices in opposing further vertical and horizontal integration by large insurers and their affiliated PBMs,' said APCI CEO Tim Ha.

美国的医疗保健系统受到威胁，DOJ和FTC需要他们使用的每种工具来保护美国人免受这些做法的侵害，而FTC的第5部分就是其中一种工具在信中，Reybold引用了几个政府机构的研究，包括最近的MedPAC报告，发现垂直整合导致Medicare D部分老年人的成本增加；PBM经常支付垂直整合的药房而不是非附属药房；而且PBM否认仅在2021年，Medicare D部分就在药房柜台获得了500亿美元的药品制造商回扣。这封信还主要关注垂直整合的PBM的回扣做法，以及它们在敦促审查收购时对患者价格上涨的作用[五十] arge PBM正在利用其市场力量和限制性处方实践来推动药品制造商的回扣收入，剥夺受益人在药店柜台获得药品制造商回扣/折扣的好处，促使受益人购买更昂贵的品牌药品，并且在许多情况下向受益人收取回扣后超过药品净价格的成本份额，“这封信说。”APCI首席执行官Tim Ha说，APCI一直是反对大型保险公司及其附属PBM进一步纵向和横向整合的最响亮和最一致的声音之一。