11/3/2011 7:51 AM 

David Balto, who previously served as policy director at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and who now represents opponents of the proposed Express Scripts and Medco merger, made a compelling case in a leading Capitol Hill newspaper against the emergence of a mega-pharmacy-benefit-manager (PBM).

"Competition is an essential element to controlling healthcare costs," Balto wrote in his op-ed published today in The Hill.  "Allowing two of the largest PBMs to carve up the market is a poor prescription for reducing costs and improving healthcare.  This merger needs to be blocked."

Directly confronting one of the PBMs' leading arguments for the merger - an argument that has been the subject of skepticism by consumer groups, members of Congress and others - Balto wrote, "There is little reason to expect a dominant PBM to pass on savings to consumers this time around."