Miyares’ office investigating pharmacy benefit managers, manufacturers over insulin prices
Table of Contents
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Tuesday that his office is looking into whether several insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers artificially inflated costs of diabetic medications.
Pharmacy benefits managers act as intermediaries between health plans, drug manufacturers and pharmacies. They retain rebates and discounts from contracts, but some consumers and pharmacies have said they are unsure how much savings are being passed on. In the cases that Miyares’ office is investigating, the question is if certain PBMs and drug producers raised costs in violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
That state law authorizes the state attorney general to investigate when there is reason to believe companies have engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices.
“Thousands of Virginians live with diabetes, and none of them should have to worry whether they can afford the medication they need to survive. My Office is investigating the companies behind the soaring cost of insulin to protect Virginia families,” Miyares said in a release announcing the investigation on Tuesday. “My Office will not hesitate to act.”
Miyares has previously signed onto a national letter urging congressional reforms to PBMs. Meanwhile a bipartisan group of state lawmakers passed the “Save Local Pharmacies Act” earlier this year and it was approved by outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
If implemented, the law will create a single state-contracted pharmacy benefit manager in Medicaid — a move supporters say would improve accountability, lower costs and help independent pharmacies stay afloat.
The next governor, either Democrat Abigail Spanberger or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, can oversee its rollout.
Earle-Sears pulled out of a planned interview with The Mercury where she would have been asked various health care questions, to include one about her support or opposition of the PBM reform. Spanberger reiterated her support in an August interview, after previously disclosing it at a campaign event this summer.
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
