The probe will look into how PBMs set drug reimbursement rates and pay them out in Kentucky.
A report released in February found that PBMs in Kentucky collected $123.5 million from the state Medicaid program by using a practice known as spread pricing: paying drugstores one price for a treatment while marking up the cost of the same treatment to their health plan clients. Critics of the practice say the difference in pricing adds to PBMs profits.
“PBMs were originally established to help companies and government programs better manage pharmacy costs, but have grown into powerful industry middlemen that go to great lengths to hide and complicate drug-pricing information,” Mr. Beshear told Reuters.
The investigation comes as PBMs face intense scrutiny nationwide for allegedly helping raise prescription drug costs in the U.S.
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