Big Pharma Drastically Overcharges the US Military
A government-granted monopoly has allowed a pharmacy benefit manager owned by Cigna to overbill the Defense Department for years, in what amounts to an enormous cash transfer from American taxpayers to Big Pharma’s shareholders.
It’s not breaking news that the US has a bloated military budget. But taxpayers may be interested to know that some of that money goes to pharmaceutical intermediaries who vastly overcharge the military for medicines. (Liu Jin / AFP via Getty Images)
One of the nation’s most powerful pharmacy intermediaries is quietly charging the military’s health insurance program $484 more on average per generic drug than independent and big chain pharmacies, according to exclusive data shared with The Lever. The scheme forces taxpayers to spend significantly more to inflate the company’s profits, while cutting off many military families from local, accessible pharmacy care.
Lawmakers are working to add language to the pending defense spending bill that could shed light on this overbilling by requiring the US Department of Defense to finally disclose how much it’s paying pharmacies for medicines. But standing in the way is the formidable lobbying arm of the pharmacy giant’s corporate owner, which has spent millions on military health insurance and other issues over the past six years.
Express Scripts — a pharmacy benefit manager owned by health insurance giant Cigna — has overseen pharmacy benefits for the military’s health insurance program, TRICARE, since 2003. The program serves more than nine million active-duty service members, retirees, and their families.
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