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KDI 경제교육·정보센터

ENG
  • 경제배움
  • Economic

    Information

    and Education

    Center

최신자료
Profit Regulation and Strategic Transfer Pricing by Vertically Integrated Firms: Evidence from Health Care
NBER
2026.06.09
We provide evidence of strategic transfer pricing by vertically integrated health care firms in response to insurer profit regulations. Insurers increased prices at vertically integrated pharmacies by 9.5% following the introduction of caps on insurer profits in Medicare Part D. We detect larger price increases by insurers that were at greatest risk of exceeding the allowable profit level. More than one-fifth of these higher prices were borne by the federal government. Our analysis illustrates that vertically integrated firms can evade profit regulation by “tunneling” profits to unregulated subsidiaries, undermining regulatory intent and increasing health care spending.