Oak Street Health ticks lower as Sen. Warren urges FTC to probe CVS deal

Oak Street Health (NYSE:OSH) slid 0.2% on a report that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is urging the Federal Trade Commission to closely scrutinize CVS Health's (NYSE:CVS) proposed acquisition of the primary care company.

"Given the potential risk that vertical integration could lead to higher health care prices and lower quality of care, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should carefully scrutinize this deal ..." Warren wrote in a March 17 letter to the FTC, which was revealed in a press release earlier Wednesday.

Warren said the FTC should also "retrospectively" review similar deals and challenge in court any mergers that have reduced competition in violation of antitrust laws.

Warren's letter comes after CVS (CVS) agreed to acquire Oak Street Health (OSH) last month for ~$10.6 billion, or $39 a share. A nonprofit antitrust advocacy group last month stated that it opposed the transaction before it was officially announced.

Warren's statement also comes after Amazon (AMZN) recently completed its $3.9 billion purchase of  membership-based primary care platform One Medical. CVS (CVS) is also in the midst of an ~$8 billion purchase of Signify Health (SGFY), which it announced in September and which received a second request from the DOJ in October.

Sen. Warren has been busy trying to oppose consolidation and has also targeted other deals in the healthcare industry. Warren wrote a letter to the FTC in January expressing her concerns about Amgen's (AMGN) plan to buy Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP).  

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