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☆ CVS, UnitedHealth say FTC should take Lina Khan and two commissioners off drug middlemen case
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group are demanding Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from a lawsuit accusing the companies and other drug middlemen of boosting their profits while inflating insulin costs for Americans. In separate motions filed Tuesday night with the FTC, CVS and UnitedHealth argued that all three commissioners have an extensive track record of making public statements that indicate "serious bias" against the companies' so-called pharmacy benefit managers. CVS said those statements demonstrate that the commissioners have "prejudged this matter," so their participation in the case "violates due process." The FTC filed the suit last month against the three largest PBMs, CVS Health's Caremark, UnitedHealth Group 's Optum Rx and Cigna 's Express Scripts. The FTC has been investigating PBMs and their role in insulin prices since 2022.

Persons: Lina Khan, UnitedHealth, Khan, Alvaro Bedoya, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, PBMs Organizations: Financial Services, General Government, Federal Trade Commission, CVS Health, UnitedHealth, Federal Trade, CVS, Amazon, FTC, Zinc Health Services, GPO, Emisar Pharma, OptumRx Locations: Rayburn, U.S, Caremark

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.

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

☆ US FTC expands probe into pharmacy benefit managers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had sought information from two privately held companies that negotiate drug rebates on behalf of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as part of its probe into how PBMs affect pricing of prescription drugs. The two companies, Zinc Health Services and Ascent Health Services, are group purchasing organizations, that negotiate after-market discounts or rebates with drug manufacturers on behalf of PBMs and hold the contracts that govern those rebates. Zinc Health negotiates rebates for CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) and Ascent Health for Cigna Group's (CI.N) Express Scripts unit and Prime Therapeutics, which is a privately held PBM, the FTC said on Wednesday. PBMs act as middlemen and negotiate rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, create lists of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions. Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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