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HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
11. Liberty seems to be a division of PolyMedica Corporation.
Mon Feb 18, 2013, 01:33 AM
Feb 2013

Last edited Mon Feb 18, 2013, 02:15 AM - Edit history (1)

PolyMedica Corporation provides healthcare products and services primarily to seniors with Medicare insurance coverage. PolyMedica is best known through its Liberty Healthcare division, which provides blood glucose testing supplies and related services to diabetics. Through Liberty, which is advertised in a national television marketing campaign featuring actor Wilford Brimley and broadcaster Paul Harvey, PolyMedica also operates a mail-order pharmacy that provides a broad range of prescription medications.

http://www.answers.com/topic/polymedica-corporation

Which is itself a subsidiary or division of Medco.

Liberty Medical Supply, Inc. ("Liberty Medical&quot is a home delivery service that sells diabetes testing supplies, prescription drugs, urology supplies, CPAP and ostomy supplies directly to consumers. The company is a subsidiary of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., which purchased Liberty Medical and its parent company, PolyMedica, in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Medical

And Medco:

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. is an American managed health care company currently serving the needs of more than 65 million people. Medco provides pharmacy services for private and public employers, health plans, labor unions, government agencies, and individuals served by Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. Medco is a member of the S&P 500 and is ranked number 34 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list, with 2011 revenues of more than $70 billion.

In March 2008, Medco launched a collaboration with Sweden’s (then) government-operated retail pharmacy authority, Apoteket...

In April 2008, Medco acquired a majority interest in Europa Apotheek, a privately held company based in the Netherlands that primarily provides mail-order and specialty pharmacy services in Germany.,,

In August 2009, Medco formed a joint venture with United Drug plc, a pan-European healthcare leader, to provide home-based pharmacy care services in the United Kingdom for patients covered by the country’s National Health Service.

Medco International, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, healthcare solutions focused on enhancing the quality of care for patients with chronic and complex conditions, improving therapeutic outcomes and helping to ease the growing financial burden on payors. Established in 2010, the company is building a market presence across Europe

Medco was originally founded as National Pharmacies in 1983....acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. and became Merck-Medco. In August 2003, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. became an independent company in one of the largest domestic spin-offs at the time. It has recently been acquired by Express Scripts.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medco_Health_Solutions


And Express Scripts:

Express Scripts, Inc. is a Fortune 100 company, and it is one of the largest pharmacy benefit management organizations in the United States...The company processes pharmaceutical claims for members at network pharmacies and at their own mail order pharmacies. Headquartered in Cool Valley, Missouri in Greater St. Louis, Express Scripts provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services including network-pharmacy claims processing, home delivery services, specialty benefit management, benefit-design consultation, drug-utilization review, formulary management, and medical and drug data analysis services to manage drug plans for government agencies (both as administrator of employee benefits and public assistance programs), corporations, and unions. One of their largest clients is the United States Department of Defense's Tricare program.

On April 2, 2012, Express Scripts announced that it gained regulatory approval from the FTC for its 29.1-billion-dollar acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. Together, it is estimated that the new combined company will cover prescription benefits for one in three Americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Scripts


So the answer to your question is: Liberty Medical is one puny little piece of one of the biggest Rx corporations in the world; a global corporation that makes a lot of its money sucking off public programs (much like a military contractor). It's a price-maker due to its major share of the market, and likely connected to the hilt (much like military contractors).

Major shareholders:

http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-major.html?t=ESRX

http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-major.html?t=ESRX

Executive compensation:

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=ESRX®ion=USA&culture=en-us

Board:

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/board-of-directors.action?t=ESRX®ion=USA&culture=en-us

The Director that's been on its board longest is Seymour Sternberg:

Seymour Sternberg, 68, was elected a director of Express Scripts in March 1992. Mr. Sternberg became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of New York Life in April 1997, and served as Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in June 2008. Mr. Sternberg continued to serve as non-executive Chairman of the Board of New York Life until May 2009. Mr. Sternberg was appointed by former President Clinton as one of three U.S. representatives to the Business Advisory Council of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Mr. Sternberg has also served or serves on the boards of several public or private companies and charitable organizations. Mr. Sternberg is currently a director of CIT Group, Inc. and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northeastern University.

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-profile.action?PersonId=PS00001IHP&flag=Director&insider=Seymour_Sternberg&t=ESRX®ion=usa&culture=en-US

CIT Group is a bank holding company (i.e. lots and lots of banks under its umbrella):

CIT Group Inc. is a United States bank holding company founded in 1908 with more than $33 billion in finance and leasing assets. The company's name is an abbreviation of an early corporate name, Commercial Investment Trust. It provides financing and leasing capital to its small business and middle market clients and their customers across more than 30 industries. CIT maintains leadership positions in small business and middle market lending, factoring, retail finance, aerospace, equipment and rail leasing, and global vendor finance. CIT also operates CIT Bank (Member FDIC), BankOnCIT.com, its primary bank subsidiary, which offers a suite of online savings options designed to help customers achieve a range of financial goals.

The Company is part of the Fortune 500 and was a part of the S&P 500 Index until it was replaced by Red Hat at the close of trading July 24, 2009.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIT_Group

So sternberg = banking, insurance, health.

So who owns/controls Liberty Medical?

The oligarchs of the ruling class.

was there ever any doubt?

This is why healthcare costs so much in the US; because the oligarchs get a cut all the way up the pyramid.
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