"It is notable that no large employer who privately expressed concerns to us wished to testify at today's hearing, often telling us that they feared retaliation from the large PBMs with whom they must do business," stated Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights today.

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).

The Wall Street Journal reported first that the advocacy group Small Business Majority has written to the Federal Trade Commission to oppose the proposed Express Scripts and Medco merger.

Saying that the proposed Express Scripts and Medco merger "would reduce competition resulting in a decrease of pharmacy patient care and an increase in healthcare costs to both consumers and to FMI [Food Marketing Institute] members as employers," FMI urged careful evaluation of the potential merger's effects.

Click here to read the FMI news release.