Drug Plans Drop After Trump Official Targets PBMs Ahead of Speech
- Medicare chief Verma says ‘unclear’ who drug plans are serving
- Trump is expected to make speech in coming days on drug prices
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Shares of CVS Health Corp. and Express Scripts Holding Co. slipped Monday after one of the Trump administration’s top health-care officials said the companies’ roles as intermediaries between drugmakers and health plans was hurting patients.
Known as pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, the plans negotiate with drugmakers to put their products on lists of covered drugs in return for discounts, and steer patients toward options that they say save them and employers money. Those dual roles are in conflict, said Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.