Connect with us

Hawaii

‘Big Three’ PBMs to Face House Oversight Accountability as Hawaii Court Delivers Legal Victory

Published

on

‘Big Three’ PBMs to Face House Oversight Accountability as Hawaii Court Delivers Legal Victory


The three biggest pharmacy benefit managers will come before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability to explain their role in the increasing medication prices in the U.S., according to an announcement on Tuesday by committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

The hearing, set for July 23, will include Adam Kautzner, president of Evernorth Care Management and Express Scripts, David Joyner, executive vice president of CVS Health and president of CVS Caremark, and Patrick Conway, CEO of OptumRx. According to Comer’s announcement, the session will probe how these pharmacy middlemen reinforce anticompetitive practices in the industry, in turn increasing prescription drug prices and compromising patient care.

Comer added in the statement that lawmakers across the aisle have “sounded the alarm” on the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBM)—and their “anticompetitive tactics”—in increasing drug prices.

“Spread pricing and rebates benefit PBMs and have helped the three largest PBMs monopolize the pharmaceutical market,” Comer continued. “It’s clear these self-benefitting practices only serve to help their bottom line rather than patients.”

Advertisement

Also on Tuesday, the Federal District Court of Hawaii tossed the state’s lawsuit alleging that the three biggest PBMs were artificially and unlawfully hiking drug prices. Hawaii’s state attorney general has 45 days to file an amended complaint.

The state of Hawaii sued the top three PBMs—CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx—in October 2023, claiming that they employed unlawful business practices, which in turn “have driven skyrocketing prices for brand-name prescription medications.” Among the practices that the lawsuit named was charging pharma companies rebates in exchange for favorable formulary placements for their drugs.

PBMs also charged drugmakers several other fees, none of which helped lower drug prices for patients at the point of sale, the lawsuit alleged. “Pay-to-play practices directly harm consumers both by artificially inflating the price of medications and by restricting consumers’ access to medications that could save or greatly increase the quality of their lives,” deputy attorney general Ciara Kahahane said at the time.

These double developments on Tuesday come amid mounting scrutiny of PBMs. Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published an interim report showing that the top three PBMs handled nearly 80% of all prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies across the country. The antitrust watchdog also found that these middlemen “can hike the cost of drugs” and overcharge patients for cancer therapies, according to FTC Chair Lina Khan.

A few days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FTC was gearing up to sue CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts over alleged anticompetitive practices.

Advertisement





Source link

Hawaii

Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now

Published

on

Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now


Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast


Shores Tonight Wednesday
Surf Surf
PM AM AM PM
North Facing 2-4 2-4 2-4 2-4
East Facing 3-5 4-6 4-6 5-7
South Facing 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3
TONIGHT
Weather Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers.
Low Temperature In the upper 60s.
Winds East winds 5 to 10 mph.
Tides
Hilo Bay High 1.9 feet 03:26 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 09:20 PM HST.
High 2.4 feet 03:40 AM HST.
WEDNESDAY
Weather Partly sunny. Numerous showers.
High Temperature In the upper 70s.
Winds East winds 10 to 15 mph.
Tides
Hilo Bay Low -0.1 feet 10:00 AM HST.
High 2.0 feet 04:04 PM HST.
Sunrise 6:37 AM HST.
Sunset 6:27 PM HST.

Forecast for Big Island Leeward


Shores Tonight Wednesday
Surf Surf
PM AM AM PM
West Facing 2-4 2-4 2-4 1-3
South Facing 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3
TONIGHT
Weather Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly
cloudy. Hazy.
Low Temperature In the upper 60s.
Winds West winds around 5 mph early in the
afternoon, becoming light and variable.
Tides
Kona High 1.5 feet 04:04 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 09:57 PM HST.
High 1.9 feet 04:18 AM HST.
Kawaihae High 1.4 feet 04:36 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 10:20 PM HST.
High 1.9 feet 04:38 AM HST.
WEDNESDAY
Weather Partly sunny. Hazy.
High Temperature In the mid 80s.
Winds Light and variable winds, becoming west
around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tides
Kona Low -0.1 feet 10:37 AM HST.
High 1.6 feet 04:42 PM HST.
Kawaihae Low -0.2 feet 11:01 AM HST.
High 1.6 feet 05:13 PM HST.
Sunrise 6:41 AM HST.
Sunset 6:31 PM HST.

The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.

Advertisement

NORTH EAST

am        pm  

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Advertisement
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

SOUTH EAST

Advertisement

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Hawaii

Hawaii delegation continues to blast U.S. attack on Iran | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Published

on

Hawaii delegation continues to blast U.S. attack on Iran | Honolulu Star-Advertiser




Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Hawaii

Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight

Published

on

Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight

























Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight | Local | kitv.com

We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which
enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.

For any issues, contact news@kitv.com or call 808-535-0400 .

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending