CVS settles with FTC on the sue of rebates
TrumpRx payments will count toward member deductibles
By: Amina Niasse
and Joody Gody
Reuters
NEW YORK - CVS Health's Caremark has finalized a settlement with the U.S. federal Trade Commission in which it agreed to curb use of aftermarket discounts known as rebates and count consumers' TrumpRx purchases toward their deductibles, an FTC spokesperson said on July 14. [2026]
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Similar to Cigna's settlement with the FTC earlier this year, [2026] the deal would curb practices critics say contribute to CVS' Carmark pharmacy benefit manager to include a patient's payment trough the TrumpRx drug website toward the deductibles some of its health plan require, once regulation are in place to facilitate the TrumpRx program.
..... The settlement is expected to bring billions of dollars in savings on drug prices, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.
..... "The FTC under President Trump won't stand for anticompetitive behavior that drives up prices for American consumes," Ferguson said.
.... President Donald Trump launched TrumpRx.gov a website offering hundreds of generic and branded drugs at a discount, in February, [2026] with a particular focus on connecting consumers with low prices for highly popular weight-loss drugs from Eli Lily and Novo Nordisk.
..... Health plan deductibles are the minimum spend members must reach before leveraging their coverage.
TrumpRx.gov sends cash-pay customers to drug-makers websites for discounted drugs, but has operated outside of insurance, limiting its value for some American consumers.
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CVS must also provide an option to clients that allows them to opt out of rebate payment models, a spokesperson by drug-makers to the pharmacy benefit manager and may or may not be passed on to the plan sponsor or consumer after a certain drug is dispensed.
..... Small pharmacies would also be given the option to be reimbursed for the actual cost of drugs they dispense plus a fee, in a bid to address complaints that pharmacy benefit managers do not fully reimburse independent local pharmacies.
..... Today's [07/14/2026] agreement advances and reinforces the changes we have already pout in place and ensures affordability for families and patients across the country," said Ed DeVaney, a president at Caremark.
..... The decision to eliminate rebates will vary based on the client and how individual employers choose to structure their own pharmacy benefit, a spokesperson for CVS said. But the company aims to encourage its clients to pass through discounts to individual members, CVS said in a lease July 14.
[2026]
..... The FTC's original lawsuit, launched in 2024, said Caremark, Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's Optum RX forced patients to pay higher prices for insulin.
..... CVS reached a proposed settlement with the regulator in March, [2026] and the FTC said the deal was similar to one with Express Scripts. Regulators have said the rebate model incentives companies to raise list prices and ultimately steers customers to pricier drugs.
.... Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate the price of drugs with manufacturers on behalf of plan sponsors, such as employers.