A new coalition of healthcare workers, patients, medical professionals and policy experts convene in D.C. for the launch of Break Up Big Medicine 

Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project is joining clinicians, patients, workers, advocates, and policy organizations from across the country for the launch of the Break Up Big Medicine Coalition. The bipartisan group, with over 20 members, is united in dismantling the conglomerates that drive costs up, quality down, and independent providers out of business.

American health care is at a breaking point. Patients and employers are paying more, and clinicians are increasingly losing control over the care they provide. But despite the U.S. shelling out $5 trillion annually on health care, power grows further concentrated in the hands of a shrinking number of giant insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, hospital systems, and private equity-backed healthcare conglomerates.

For years the debate has been about small scale tweaks, like price transparency requirements and taxpayer subsidies to offset rising costs, but the coalition is pushing for a different approach that is increasingly  gaining ground: Break Up Big Medicine. Specifically, the coalition, with members from across the country, across the political spectrum and in all sectors of the healthcare field and beyond, seeks to tackle the corporatization of healthcare to eliminate conflicts of interests and restore power to patients and practitioners. 

They are gathering in Washington D.C. for a conference Thursday. The convening also marks the launch of their new website where interested parties can learn more about the pervasiveness of Big Medicine, the legislative bills — like the Break Up Big Medicine Act — that are already on the table to address this problem, and how others can get involved. 

A livestream of the conference, which will also feature Sen. Ron Wyden, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon and State Rep. Aftyn Behn can be found on the Economic Liberties YouTube page here. 

Current Break Up Big Medicine Coalition members: Alliance for Independent Dentists, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American Economic Liberties Project, American Pharmacies, Association for Independent Medicine, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center for Health and Democracy, Coalition for Patient-Centered Care, Diatom Advisory, Families USA, Free Market Medical Association, Groundwork Action, Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge, Main Street Competition Coalition, National Nurses United, Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency, Physicians Against Drug Shortages Inc., Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Psychotherapy Action Network, Searchlight Investigative Journalism Foundation, Small Business Majority, The Patients Union, UFCW 3000, Write Off Warrior.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.