Mergers & Acquisitions
Potentially anti-competitive practices have crept their way into healthcare, particularly when it comes to hospital consolidation.
The VillageMD deal includes investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Cigna subsidiary Evernorth.
Elevance says the acquisition will help it meet the specialty drug needs of its customers with a whole-health approach.
Evidence shows that cross-market hospital systems raise prices by exerting power across markets when negotiating with insurers.
The deal is being made with investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Evernorth, the health services subsidiary of Cigna.
Highly concentrated markets and consolidation have hurt both patients and medical professionals, the AMA said.
CVS Health says it anticipates the transaction closing in the first half of 2023.
Humana, which has also reportedly shown interest, has the right of first refusal in a sale.
Less competition and more vertical integration can embolden anti-competitive business practices to the detriment of patients, says AMA president.
The figures are consistent with the trend of falling below prepandemic deal numbers, though two 'mega' transactions occurred.