Antitrust Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on CVS-Aetna Merger

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 -- Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following news release:

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 2:00 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law will hold a hearing titled "Competition in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: the Proposed Merger of CVS Health and Aetna."

This hearing will examine the potential competitive impacts of the proposed merger on consumers and the health insurance, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and retail pharmacy markets.

Witnesses for the hearing include:

Panel I:

* Tom Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer, and General Counsel, CVS Health

* Thomas J. Sabatino, Jr., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Aetna

Panel II:

* Craig Garthwaite, Associate Professor of Strategy and Director of the Health Enterprise Management Program (HEMA), Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

* Lawrence Wu, President, NERA Economic Consulting

* George Slover, Senior Policy Counsel, ConsumersUnion

* Geoffrey Manne, Executive Director, International Center for Law and Economics

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino (R-Pa.) have issued the following statements ahead of the hearing:

Chairman Goodlatte: "Competition is an important factor in healthcare costs and drug prices. As we review the proposed merger between CVS Health and Aetna Inc., we should examine the potential positive and negative impacts that this merger could have on American consumers and the economy.

I am pleased to announce this oversight hearing under the direction of Subcommittee Chairman Marino, and I look forward to hearing from our panel of experts."