Express Scripts Holding Co., one of the biggest pharmacy-benefits managers, says the drug-price deals it cuts behind closed doors are saving consumers a lot of money.

The companies' new partnership has the potential to be one of the most ambitious employer efforts to date to control health expenses.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will review a dispute between Express Scripts Holding Co. and New York State's comptroller over the effort to force the prescription-benefits manager to increase cyber-risk disclosures.

Caring Voice, one of the biggest patient-assistance charities in the U.S., announced last week it wont offer patients financial assistance in 2018 after losing a crucial stamp of approval from the U.S. government.

As late as August, Aetna was in discussions with a Party X about a strategic partnership, business combination or other opportunities.

For the past two years federal regulators have issued subpoenas and scrutinized relationships between drug companies and the charities, which are supposed to operate independently from industry donors.

A central plank of the $67.5 billion merger of CVS and Aetna is transforming CVS's stores into health hubs where consumers can get care, pick up their drugs, buy some milk, and stay out of the hospital.

The pharmacy benefits company has been battered by departing clients and the vague specter of Amazons entry into the drug business, and while the company isn't actively seeking a deal, CEO Tim Wentworth "would be open to it."