‘Shell Game’ or Rebate Maximizers? FTC Probe Reignites Debate Over GPOs

When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on May 17 that it ordered Zinc Health Services, LLC, and Ascent Health Services, LLC, to turn over their business records, it was just the latest salvo in a rising tide of scrutiny directed at PBM-affiliated group purchasing organizations (GPOs).

One former FTC official says the agency has a range of powers it can wield to find out more about PBM-linked GPOs — and even potentially change how they do business. Yet the PBMs that own and use such rebate-aggregating organizations say their reputation as shadowy, overseas entities belies the GPOs’ simple goal of extracting larger drug discounts from manufacturers.

© 2023 MMIT
Leslie Small

Leslie Small

Leslie has been reporting and editing in various journalism roles for nearly a decade. Most recently, she was the senior editor of FierceHealthPayer, an e-newsletter covering the health insurance industry. A graduate of Penn State University, she previously served in editing roles at newspapers in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Colorado.

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