On Monday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent CVS Health CEO David Joyner a letter pressing him on the company's history of fraud, regulatory violations, role in driving up health care expenses, and evasion of compliance with government requests. She notes that CVS is incredibly vertically integrated and that all their companies have profited because of government spending. U.S. government spending drove over 60 percent of CVS' revenue growth in 2022-2024 with more than $216 billion in direct revenues. The senator pointed out that in Tennessee, insurance rates are jumping 30-42 percent next year and that CVS Caremark, their PBM, uses their power to under-reimburse independent and community pharmacies while giving themselves preferential treatment.
In her questions to Joyner, Blackburn highlighted that in Tennessee, a CVS audit showed the company flaunted state warnings, continued noncompliant practices of preferential treatment of their affiliate pharmacies, and made inaccurate disclosures in their MAC pricing lists in an attempt to drive independents out of business. We applaud the letter, which you can read here, and look forward to seeing CVS held accountable in their responses.
