FTC Sues CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth Over Inflated Insulin Prices, Rebate Programs

Sep 20, 2024, 04:45 PM

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States—CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx. The FTC accuses these PBMs of engaging in illegal rebate programs that have artificially inflated the price of insulin by over 1,200 percent over the past two decades. The lawsuit alleges that these practices have forced diabetic patients to pay significantly higher prices for insulin, benefiting the PBMs through millions of dollars in rebates from pharmaceutical companies. These three PBMs administer 80% of medication in the US. Additionally, the FTC has put insulin drugmakers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi on notice, reserving the right to sue them in the future.