Top PBM execs to testify before House Oversight Committee

The heads of pharmacy benefit managers CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS), Express Scripts, which is owned by Cigna (NYSE:CI), and OptumRx, part of UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on July 23.
The subject of the hearing is “The Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Prescription Drug Markets Part III: Transparency and Accountability.”
Citing “anticompetitive tactics” used by PBMs, Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said that “information the Committee has obtained shows spread pricing and rebates benefit PBMs and have helped the three largest PBMs monopolize the pharmaceutical market.”
In February, the Committee passed the Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging Act which would require PBMs that contract with a carrier offering health benefits plans offered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) provide de-linking policies and prohibitions on spread pricing and patient steering.
Earlier in July, the FTC released a report accusing PBMs of profiting at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies.

Tags: UNH