2/1/2012 10:01 AM 

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Hochul (D-NY) has expressed concerns about the proposed merger of pharmaceutical insurance middlemen Express Scripts and Medco, warning that decreased competition could result in the merged PBM's "raising consumer prices across the country."

"I am deeply concerned that this concetration of prescription drug processing into one company would limit consumer choice," she wrote.  "I hope the FTC will carefully assess the potential impacts of this merger on consumer access - especially for seniors - to local pharmacies and face-to-face consultations with pharmacists.

"In addition, I fear that decreasing competition in an industry that is already largely unregulated would allow the merged ESI-Medco PBM to manipulate prescription drug costs for their own benefit, raising consumer prices across the country."