Health
New York State Aims to Lower Drug Prices by Targeting Pharmacy Plans
Units of CVS, Cigna and UnitedHealth face new state regulations trying to boost competition and transparency.
A CVS Pharmacy in New York.
Photographer: Nora Savosnick/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
New York state regulators are setting new rules to rein in the behavior of prescription drug middlemen — including units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. — in a step the state’s top financial regulator said will boost competition and transparency.
Regulations taking effect this month will make pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, publish their lists of covered drugs and directories of pharmacies in their networks. The state will also bar PBMs from steering patients to their affiliated pharmacies and allow local pharmacies to offer mail-order and home delivery.