House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) has told the CEOs of the three major PBMs — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx — to correct what he’s claiming are contradictions in their statements before the committee last month.
The letters highlight the ramifications of perjury and how testimony from each CEO runs counter to recent investigations conducted by both the committee and the Federal Trade Commission.
In the letter to CVS president David Joyner, Comer said Joyner twice testified at the hearing that CVS Caremark pays its own pharmacies less than other pharmacies in its network. But Comer, citing a whistleblower email, said the committee has “received evidence that CVS Caremark reimburses competing pharmacies below the acquisition cost of the medication and below what it reimburses pharmacies it owns.”
A CVS spokesperson told Endpoints News, “We are reviewing the Chairman’s letter and look forward to further engaging with the Committee.”
In the letter to Express Scripts president Adam Kautzner, Comer claimed that Kautzner said twice that Express Scripts does not steer patients to PBM-owned pharmacies. But the committee said it found evidence that Express Scripts does use data from competing pharmacies, and encourages patients to move their prescriptions to Express Scripts’ mail-order pharmacy.
And the letter to Optum Rx CEO Patrick Conway also went after his comments on not steering patients to PBM-owned pharmacies and claims that his PBM does not engage in opt-out contracting with pharmacies.
Optum Rx and Express Scripts didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The three letters, dated Wednesday, seek corrections from the executives by Sept. 11.