High insulin prices generated public outcry for years, though changes in the past few years have reduced patients’ costs to no more than $35 a month in most cases.
The legislation will impose new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, giant companies like CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts that oversee prescription drug benefits.
At two congressional hearings, lawmakers slammed executives of major companies, saying they were failing to rein in the cost of medical care for consumers.
Stephen Hemsley, chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, left, defended insurers’ practices, along with other companies’ executives, during congressional hearings on Thursday.
The Justice Department and whistle-blowers accused the major health insurer of overbilling the government for about $1 billion under the private plans.
Dr. James Taylor, a physician and coding expert who worked for Kaiser Permanente, was one of the whistle-blowers who flagged the overbilling. “The cash monster was insatiable,” he said.
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