Federal regulators are accusing the nation’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers of illegally raising insulin prices in the U.S., making it harder for patients to get access to cheaper versions of the life-saving drug.
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday accused three companies — CVS’s CaremarkRx, Cigna Group’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx — of engaging in unfair kickback practices and other conduct that stifled competition in the insulin drug industry.
This artificially inflated the list price of insulin and created a “drug rebate system that favored higher kickbacks” from drug companies, the FTC alleged in announcing its lawsuit against the three companies and their affiliates.
Pharmacy benefit management companies, known as PBMs, administer prescription drug plans for health insurance programs including Medicare and act as intermediaries between pharmacies, employers and drug manufacturers. Three companies — Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum — administer about 80% of prescription drugs in the United States, according to the FTC.
“Millions of Americans with diabetes need insulin to live, but for many of these vulnerable patients, the cost of insulin has skyrocketed over the past decade, in part due to powerful PBMs and their greed,” Rahul Rao, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “As pharmaceutical gatekeepers, Caremark, ESI and Optum have milked millions of dollars from patients who need life-saving medications.”
CVS Caremark and Optum disputed the FTC’s allegations.
“CVS Caremark is proud of the work we’ve done to make insulin more affordable for all Americans with diabetes, and it is simply wrong for the FTC to suggest otherwise, as they did today,” the company said in a statement to CBS News.
A CVS spokesman also said the company has a track record of protecting patients from rising prescription drug prices and has been a “pioneer in lowering insulin costs for all our patients.”
CVS members pay less than $25 on average for insulin, the company said, adding that it negotiates significant discounts for customers.
Optum called the FTC’s allegations “without merit.”
“Over the years, OptumRx has actively and successfully negotiated with pharmaceutical companies to take additional steps to lower prescription insulin costs for health plans and their members, who now pay an average of less than $18 per month for insulin,” the company said in a statement to CBS News.
Cigna did not immediately respond to a CBS News request for comment on the lawsuit.
