CVS Caremark in Settlement to Resolve Legal Issues, Investigations With FTC

By Doc Louallen

CVS Caremark reached a global settlement to resolve all outstanding litigation and investigations involving CVS Health -- including its pharmacy benefits management and affiliated pharmacy businesses -- with the Federal Trade Commission

As part of the deal Caremark will lock in place up to $8.5 billion in consumer savings over the next 10 years, the FTC said Tuesday. The settlement unlocks up to $4.5 billion in potential savings for patients during the same 10-year period from point-of-sale rebates.

Caremark Rx LLC and Zinc Health Services LLC, collectively Caremark, will adopt changes to its business practices to drive down out-of-pocket costs for patients and increase transparency, the FTC said.

As part of the settlement, CVS said it will align certain member cost sharing more closely with the net cost of medicines after rebates, simplify its pricing structure, and enhance reporting on drug pricing. It will also expand transparency on rebates and member payments, along with disclosure of broker and consultant compensation.

CVS also said it would delink manufacturer compensation from list prices and shift independent retail pharmacies to acquisition-based reimbursement to better align payments with pharmacies' actual costs. Purchases under its TrumpRx program will count toward deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.

The FTC in 2024 sued the three largest prescription drug benefit managers, Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, alleging that they artificially inflated the list price of insulin drugs by using anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices.

Write to Doc Louallen at Doc.Louallen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2026 17:16 ET (21:16 GMT)