Interim Report Places Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the FTC’s Crosshairs

• August 30, 2024

• Adam Acosta , White & Case LLP
• Kathy Hong , White & Case LLP

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—intermediaries between health insurance companies, drug companies, and pharmacies managing prescription benefits—have faced increasing scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in recent years. Most recently, in July 2024, the FTC released an interim report finding that “increasing vertical integration and concentration has enabled the six largest PBMs to manage nearly 95 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States” and “has allowed PBMs to profit at the expense of patients and independent pharmacists.” The interim report generated headlines across the health care industry, ranging from calls for reform and legal action to criticisms about the interim report’s findings and underlying flaws. This article discusses the FTC’s increasing scrutiny of PBMs, the FTC’s interim report and related criticisms, and implications going forward.

ARTICLE TAGS

• Antitrust Practice Group
• Antitrust