The PBM Policy and Legislative Update — Spring 2025 edition builds upon prior issues and summarizes activity from January through March (2025) that affects the PBM industry. It highlights federal activities, state activities, and other noteworthy events and trends affecting the PBM industry.

Several Trump Administration antitrust enforcers have written or spoken about the direction of conservative antitrust enforcement policy. 

The FTC—led by Chairman Andrew Ferguson—launched a public inquiry this week into “how federal regulations can harm competition in the American economy.

In this Special Edition of the PBM Policy and Legislative Update, the Mintz Health team partnered with our Antitrust colleagues to analyze the FTC’s Second Report titled Specialty Generic Drugs: A Growing Profit Center for Vertically Integrated Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

Our 2025 edition of EnforceMintz reflects on health care enforcement trends, predicts how health care enforcement may evolve, and offers practical guidance about what these trends and predictions mean for health care providers, payors, and other stakeholders.

In 2024, the FTC and state attorneys general pursued various theories of liability against a diverse array of entities offering health care or health care–related services, and employed numerous different enforcement tools and partnerships. We expect that the agencies will continue developing these strategies in 2025.

Read about the FTC’s increased jurisdictional thresholds for notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, the HSR Act filing fee schedule, and the interlocking directorate thresholds under Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The FTC and Department of Justice Antitrust Division have withdrawn the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors, which were originally issued in April 2000.

As January 20, 2025, approaches, antitrust practitioners and the business communities are searching for clues whether the incoming Trump Administration and its antitrust officials will continue the Biden Administration’s approach to the exchange of competitively sensitive information, particularly through the use of algorithmic software.

The new HSR form, instructions, and implementing rules were announced yesterday and are set to take effect 90 days from publication in the Federal Register.