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

Sep 20, 2024, 05:03 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 engaging in illegal rebate programs that have artificially inflated the cost of insulin by over 1,200 percent over the past two decades. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges that these companies steered diabetic patients towards higher-priced insulin products to reap millions of dollars in rebates from pharmaceutical companies, thereby increasing their profits at the expense of patients. These three PBMs administer 80% of prescriptions in the US. The FTC's action aims to address these anticompetitive practices and restore competition in the insulin market.