RealClearHealth: How CVS Allegedly Turned a Safety Net Into a Corporate Cash Cow

By Kasia Mulligan, Patients Come First’s National Spokesperson

News that three of the nation’s largest health systems sued CVS Health should shatter any remaining illusions about the state of American healthcare. Mount Sinai, University of Michigan Health, and the University of Kansas Hospital Authority all filed separate, damning federal lawsuits, alleging that CVS and its affiliates ran a sophisticated, coordinated scheme to covertly pocket nearly $250 million in 340B drug savings between 2020 and 2025.

According to the complaints, CVS allowed vulnerable patients and their insurers to pay full price for critical specialty drugs, while simultaneously using its web of affiliated entities to slash reimbursement rates behind closed doors--quietly absorbing the difference as corporate profit.

While these allegations represent a massive wake-up call for healthcare reformers, they deliver a devastating blow to patients. Countless individuals are now forced to reckon with a heartbreaking reality: the pharmacy they trusted with their health was allegedly treating their medications as a corporate cash cow.

Read the full op-ed in RealClearHealth here.