FTC Sues CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth Over 1,200% Insulin Price Hike, Controlling 80% of Medication

Sep 20, 2024, 05:21 PM

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States, accusing them of artificially inflating the prices of insulin through illegal rebate programs. The entities involved are CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx, which together administer 80% of medication in the U.S. The FTC alleges that these PBMs engaged in practices that drove up insulin costs by over 1,200 percent over the past two decades, profiting at the expense of diabetic patients. The lawsuit claims that these PBMs steered patients toward higher-priced insulin products to reap millions of dollars in rebates from pharmaceutical companies. The FTC also noted that while the current case does not name insulin drugmakers such as Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, it reserves the right to sue them later. This legal action is part of a broader effort to address the high cost of life-saving medications and restore competition in the market.