The Federal Trade Commission is planning to sue three large U.S. health companies over their practices as middlemen who negotiate prices for medications.
This is big news for the pharmacy industry, which has struggled for years with decreasing reimbursements and increasing drug costs.
The suits are expected to target the three biggest pharmacy benefit managers, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx, CVS Health’s Caremark and Cigna’s Express Scripts. All three are owned by or connected to health insurers.
The lawsuits will specifically focus on the business practices related to the rebates the pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, broker with drug manufacturers, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
