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- 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.