GROUP PURCHASING ORGANIZATIONS and ASCENT

For more than 100 years, GPOs have been utilized in health care and many other industries, to aggregate purchasing volume in order to obtain discounts—lowering costs for patients and consumers through savings delivered to health plans and employers.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized GPOs can be pro-competitive. The FTC and DOJ have likewise acknowledged that health care GPOs can provide economic efficiencies that benefit payers and consumers.

Ascent was created in response to rising drug inflation by drug manufacturers and to drive more value for participants and their clients.

In 2019, in response to out-of-control drug price inflation by pharmaceutical manufacturers, Express Scripts and a co-founder launched a GPO called Ascent. It has several participants—PBMs, health plan and pharmacy participants—who work together and aggregate purchasing volume to negotiate greater savings from pharmaceutical manufacturers.

By creating a GPO, Ascent further aggregates purchasing volume of health plans and other entities to negotiate rebates for a greater number of consumers.