Aetna And CVS On The Verge Of Merger

I remember learning in middle school that monopolies and gerrymandering were illegal in America. It only took 30 years to reverse these ideas.

Anybody who thinks CVS merging with the insurance company Aetna will reduce costs to consumers does not have a functioning brain.

Nope, this should not be approved. Insurance should not own the pharmacy. Not after all of the crazy deals in the past.

Let me explain: If you have insurance, the insurance company has negotiated a price for the drugs. This isn’t the best arrangement. In several cases, you can get the drug cheaper because you have no insurance from the same CVS pharmacy. And how about the same drug being charged 3000 times what Costco sells it for because their price is based on a percentage of profit?

So no, insurance and pharmacies should not be owned by the same company.

According to Fox Business: “U.S. retail pharmacy CVS Health (CVS) reached a $69 billion deal to buy Aetna (AET), one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, which provides coverage for more than 46 million Americans.”

“‘It’s a vertical merger—meaning CVS and Aetna don’t compete on much, so it’s about synergies from integration rather than getting rid of a competitor—so [it] shouldn’t affect Aetna’s health-insured much, other than perhaps cheaper scripts or [over the counter] treatments bought at CVS,’ Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review, told FOX Business.”

“CVS expects the deal to save a potential $750 million in the second full-year after it passes, the company said in a presentation.”

Don’t discount my theory because I believe in what Trump says: The negotiation of Medicare and Medicaid drugs needs to be done at the state or federal level because they are the biggest buyer and should have the lowest margin. Let’s reduce drug care costs!

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Wayne is a freelance writer who was named the 2015 American Conservative Union Blogger of the Year and awarded... More about Wayne Dupree

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