National Grocers Association

Healthy benefit cards, offered by some private health insurers and Medicare Advantage plans, provide a convenient way for eligible individuals to purchase groceries and over-the-counter drugs using their healthcare benefit. More than 30 million Americans are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs, and at least 5 million participants are currently receiving hundreds of dollars on healthy benefit cards through their health plan. …

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) released today a highly-anticipated proposed update to merger enforcement guidelines. The proposed draft significantly re-writes merger enforcement standards to include new considerations for mergers that enhance buyer power.  Specifically, one of the thirteen proposed guidelines directly addresses buyer power (i.e. monopsony power) where a merger of competing buyers lessens competition for other sellers.  …