FTC sues CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth PBMs over insulin prices

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the largest pharmacy benefit managers and their group purchasing organizations for allegedly anticompetitive practices that “artificially inflated” the price of insulin and, consequently, impeded patient access to the life-saving treatment.

The administrative complaint accused CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx of creating a “perverse” system of rebates that favored insulin that was sold at higher list prices in order to “line their pockets” at the expense of patients, who were forced to pay more for the medication.

“Millions of Americans with diabetes need insulin to survive, yet for many of these vulnerable patients, their insulin drug costs have skyrocketed over the past decade thanks in part to powerful pharmacy benefit managers and their greed,” said Rahul Rao, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in a statement.