Core and Group Health

The high cost of health care drove the vast majority of strategies in the benefits space, as pharmacy benefit managers found themselves in the headlines far too often this year, as the high costs of drugs (and weight loss drugs, in particular) were a hot topic.

Part of legislation created to keep the government from shutting down would require pharmacy benefit managers to pass all rebates on to the plan sponsors.

Immediately, Trump's new Health appointees were met with a rash of strong reactions from assorted media outlets.

Two Competitive Enterprise Institute antitrust specialists say the agency never showed that PBMs are increasing patients' costs.

The three giants charge less than the guppies but report higher, more consistent profits, according to a new Health Affairs study.

CVS has been hit with at least three federal class actions, including two antitrust cases accusing CVS Caremark Corp. and other pharmacy benefit managers, the intermediaries between insurance companies and pharmacies, of price-fixing prescription drug reimbursement rates.

Plans in some markets cover a much higher percentage of the working-age population than in others.

Earlier versions of the bill included provisions that would have limited an employer to including only $10,200 in spending on employee-only coverage and $27,500 in spending for family coverage coverage from taxable income.