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The hearing will likely be in November, but no date has been set and no witnesses have been announced, spokeswoman Lynn Becker said.The panel will look at such issues as whether after the merger savings on the cost of drugs would be passed on to customers, and if the merger would remove the competitive impetus for the companies to offer services through community pharmacies, two congressional staffers said.”Is this the rare kind of merger where you like more consolidation because you have more buying power?” said one of the staffers, who was not authorized to speak on the record. “(Or) going back to the basics, are these three PBMs — for a large employer — really the only game in town?”The deal is already being examined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which looks at some mergers to make sure they comply with antitrust law. A group of about two dozen state attorneys general are also looking at it.An antitrust subcommittee at the House of Representatives has also held hearings to discuss the deal, although congressional hearings will have no formal effect on the legal antitrust review.Community and specialty pharmacists have complained to the FTC about the deal. One of their concerns is that Medco and Express Scripts may push their customers to get their drugs by mail. There have also been complaints that the PBMs unfairly pressure doctors and patients to switch to their own in-house pharmacies.Express Scripts declined to comment on the hearings.

* US Justice Dept has sued to stop buy of T-Mobile USAWASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A federal telecommunications regulator asked AT&T Inc on Thursday to provide data on claims that its deal to buy T-Mobile USA would mean a net gain of U.S. jobs, saying its responses on this issue “remain incomplete.”The Federal Communications Commission said in a letter to AT&T’s lead attorney Rick Rosen that the agency had asked about U.S. jobs in a request for information sent in May.AT&T has defended the $39 billion transaction, saying it would bring 5,000 overseas jobs back to the United States, but the FCC pressed for data to show there would be a net increase in U.S. jobs.”Our review of the information currently in our record suggests that AT&T’s response on this issue remain incomplete,” wrote Rick Kaplan, chief of the FCC’s wireless communications bureau.Kaplan also asked for all AT&T data on the “size and location” of AT&T’s workforce currently and after the planned merger is consummated. The $39 billion deal would merge two of the four large national cellphone carriers.In August, the Justice Department sued to stop the deal, saying that the transaction would lead to higher wireless prices. A trial will begin on Feb. 13.The FCC must also approve the merger for it to go ahead.Last month, attorneys general from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington signed onto the effort to stopThe deal would vault AT&T over Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc , into the No. 1 spot. T-Mobile USA is now owned by Deutsche Telekom AG .Sprint , the third-largest carrier, has bitterly opposed the AT&T buy.A key government concern is that T-Mobile, the No. 4 wireless carrier, generally costs less than other carriers so its disappearance could mean higher prices for wireless service.