The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that it is suing three drug middlemen, accusing them of inflating insulin prices. PBMs work with insurance companies to negotiate discounted prices from drug companies in exchange for including the drugs in their coverage. The drug was priced at $274 in 2017, as a result of the PBMs rebate system strategy, the FTC said. In July, Democratic and Republican lawmakers blamed executives from Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx for sky-high prescription drug prices in the U.S. during an oversight committee hearing. The lawsuit also comes as states — most recently Vermont — have sued PBMs, alleging they drive up drug costs.

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Persons: Cigna, Eli Lilly, Rahul Rao, It’s, Raja Krishnamoorthi, PBMs Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CVS, Cigna's, Zinc Health, Ascent Health, Emisar Pharma Services, UnitedHealth, CVS Health, Novo Nordisk, Democratic, Republican, Caremark, New York Times, Republicans, ” Rep Locations: U.S, FTC’s, Vermont