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

Sep 20, 2024, 04:49 PM

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States—CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx. The FTC accuses these PBMs of artificially inflating the prices of insulin through illegal rebate programs and steering diabetic patients towards higher-priced insulin products to reap millions of dollars in rebates from pharmaceutical companies. The lawsuit alleges that these practices have significantly increased the cost of insulin, with prices spiking by over 1,200 percent over the past two decades. These three PBMs administer 80% of medication in the US. The FTC has also put drugmakers on notice. The FTC's action aims to address these anticompetitive practices and restore competition in the insulin market.