11 ms·
I don't understand why this purchase was not turned down for on grounds of anti-trust. There will be less competition for lowering drug costs. How is this a g
by davidf18 11y ago
I don't understand why this purchase was not turned down for on grounds of anti-trust. There will be less competition for lowering drug costs. How is this a good thing for American health care?
There are four large pharmacy chains in NYC and now Walgreens owns three of the four. Not long ago Walgreens purchased Duane Reade. Now the competition is limited to Walgreens and CVS.
- cjensen 11y agoThis is just an announcement that the two companies plan to merge. Following this announcement, the government will analyze the deal and decide whether or not to oppose it.
- itslennysfault 11y agoThat's still "competition". Coke or Pepsi, Comcast or Time Warner, Everything is condensing down to two options. btw... I'm not arguing with you. It sucks.
- skhatri11 11y agoHearing rumbles that this deal isn't going to go through. But I will say from experience that when companies announce such deals they have already done their homework and generally feel pretty good about anti-trust issues. We'll be interesting to watch. Either way - Wall Street is selling Walgreen's on the news.
- ceejayoz 11y ago> I will say from experience that when companies announce such deals they have already done their homework... Well, not always. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_Time_Warner_Cable_by_Comcast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_Time_War...
- JustSomeNobody 11y agoI think you just defined generally.
- skhatri11 11y agoGenerally :)
- dragonwriter 11y agoAT&T / T-Mobile is another good example; and lots of megamergers that are approved are only approved with substantial modifications, divestitures, etc. to avoid anti-competitive effects. So, sure, generally, people have done their homework with multibillion dollar deals. But sometimes, that homework doesn't get a passing grade.
- mindcrime 11y agoI don't see the anti-trust thing. In addition to the "drug store" chains, there are pharmacies embedded in (many|most|all?) Wal*Mart stores, Target stores, Publix stores, Kroger stores, Harris Teeter stores, etc. I would guess there are other grocery chains that have pharmacies as well. Plus there are still independent pharmacies. I don't know what the situation is like in NYC specifically, but just to share an anecdote from where I live - there are two "indy" pharmacies within walking distance of my office on Main Street in Durham, NC.
- joe5150 11y agoSome data on the largest retail pharmacies [pdf]: http://www.drugstorenews.com/sites/drugstorenews.com/files/PowerRx_042715.pdf http://www.drugstorenews.com/sites/drugstorenews.com/files/P... It has figures for total stores and stores with pharmacies, and it looks like it is either most or all.
- calinet6 11y agoThe grocery stores are agglomerating as well. Not to mention the airlines, and I just paid a month's rent to visit my parents for Thanksgiving, which I was forced to do because, you know, grandparents have an expiration date, and Thanksgiving is practically a holy day in our family. I'm tired of it. Monopolies are real, and they tend to be bad for the people they purport to serve. But this is a power feedback loop that has tipped over the edge and probably gotten past control. Where are our checks and balances?
- cglace 11y agoAirline prices aren't exactly going through the roof. http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/airfares/programs/economics_and_finance/air_travel_price_index/html/AnnualFares.html http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/airfares/programs/economics_and_... To add to this point. My wife just got a ticket from Atlanta to Indianapolis for 49 dollars round trip. . . You can't drive from Atlanta to Indy for 49 dollars.
- dswalter 11y ago
- chejazi 11y agoI agree that less competition is bad, but isn't the primary reason for expensive drugs is because of the Pharmaceutical companies who discover them, not the pharmacies that distribute them? Regardless, this change certainly won't help.
- JoshTriplett 11y ago> I don't understand why this purchase was not turned down for on grounds of anti-trust. There will be less competition for lowering drug costs. How is this a good thing for American health care? Numerous other pharmacy chains exist. Many major stores have pharmacy departments. This merger would hardly creates a monopoly or anywhere near one, nor will it reduce competition to a degree that one company will be in an abusive position.
- davidf18 11y agoWell, in certain regions of the country such as NYC it effectively does create a monopoly and it may be true of other regions as well.
- berberous 11y agoThe government will often require divestitures in specific areas as a condition to approving a deal, so that there are not local monopolies.
- muzakthings 11y agoPharmacies have zero to do with drug costs. Try pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, the FDA, and trade policies if you want to find the culprits or actual structure behind the prices of drugs.
- mason55 11y agoIf you want to get pissed about a lack of competition in the pharmacy market then look at the two large PBMs. They set the prices of drugs that every drug store pays. If they choose to raise prices and the insurers don't move in lockstep then you're stuck filling prescriptions at a loss. Oh, and one of them is owned by CVS. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/10/22/450600567/how-generic-drugs-can-cost-small-pharmacies-big-bucks http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/10/22/45060056...
- refurb 11y agoPBMs don't set the price that drug stores pay, they set the reimbursement that drug stores get when they fill a prescription.
- petra 11y agoYou could say so about so many mergers. The simple fact is that since the days of bush the son, there's much less anti-trust enforcement in the u.s. ,and you see it in many areas.
- dragonwriter 11y ago> I don't understand why this purchase was not turned down for on grounds of anti-trust. For one thing, the deal was just announced. This happens before anti-trust scrutiny begins. Various sources have indicated that the deal is likely to be closely scrutinized by the FTC (though some predict it will be approved as-is). [0] [0] http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-rite-aid-m-a-walgreens-boots-idUSKCN0SL2D020151027 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-rite-aid-m-a-wa...
- mc32 11y agoA bigger Walgreens affords it more bargaining power against drugs/pharma companies, which could lead to them cutting drugs' cost to consumers. As it is now, there are times the Walgreens (and independents and the rest) have to swallow the bitter pill of drugs price adjustments because the reimbursement schedule does not adjust as drugs prices adjust. A drug they pay $10 for today might be $60 next week and if they want to keep their patients coming, which they do, most of the time they take the loss on those drugs --till the price schedule from the feds is readjusted.
- sitkack 11y agoThanks shill dude.
- dang 11y agoGroundless accusations of astroturfing or shillage are not allowed in HN threads. Please don't do this again. If you or anyone has genuine concerns about astroturfing, please email us at hn@ycombinator.com. We always look at the data, and when we find evidence we act on it. But lobbing such accusations at other users merely as weapons in an argument is strictly not allowed. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=true&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20astroturfing https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=true&page=0&dateR...
- sitkack 11y agoI appreciate your response and understand.
- arca_vorago 11y agoThat would be because antitrust and antimonopoly policies are all but forgotten and discarded. I don't have a paper to share, but my off the cuff analysis is that markets and industries acroos the board are in merger and aquisition mode, with a side of sellout and bankruptcy. Media is one of the best examples of this in my opinion. Also, who would be responsible for such antitrust moves? DOJ? The legislative? Both are corrupt to the core, and don't think I'm not counting SCOTUS in that.
- bane 11y agoAnd Walmart and Costco and your local grocery and etc. The problem with drug stores is they literally don't need to exist in most places anymore because there's so much overlapping competition.
- Shivetya 11y agoYou do realize that there are so many sources of low cost drugs that the one thing holding back many is that no one has really put effort in to gathering all that data and making it easily accessible to the public. most grocery chains, warehouse chains, and big box retailers, have pharmacies, all with heavily discounted drugs and some are even free. Since many have insurance they don't feel the effect so the drug stores stay in business as some don't like the idea of going to the grocery store for their medicine.