Senators Call for Probe of ‘Spread Pricing’ by Drug Middlemen
- Wyden says he and Grassley asked for Inspector General probe
- Shares of pharmacy-benefit management companies unscathed
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Two U.S. senators have asked the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department to investigate a practice by pharmacy-benefit managers known as spread pricing, as part of a wider inquiry by lawmakers into U.S. drug costs.
Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said that he and Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa have requested the inspector general, which examines the operations of government health programs, to probe the issue. Under spread-pricing arrangements, PBMs charge one amount to health plans for a drug, then reimburse pharmacies a different, often lower amount -- and capture the spread in between.