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The market power of PBMs

Expand chart
Reproduced from Adam Fein of the Drug Channels Institute; Chart: Axios Visuals

CVS Health, Express Scripts (now owned by Cigna) and OptumRx (owned by UnitedHealth Group) continue to control a vast majority of the drug insurance market, according to new estimates from Adam Fein of the Drug Channels Institute.

The bottom line: Those 3 pharmacy benefit managers handled more than 75% of all prescription claims in 2018.

The big picture: Employers usually don't switch drug benefits companies because they don't want to enrage their workers with the changes, which has given the big 3 players longstanding power in the market.

Go deeper: The data showing drug pricing games

Go deeper

Hope King
55 mins ago - Economy & Business

D.C.-Beijing tensions are shifting markets

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

U.S. markets stand to lose $2 trillion in value if D.C. and Beijing drift further apart.

Why it matters: Political chasms are showing up in new securities regulations that put companies and investors in a bind. The rules are also another reflection of how much relations between the world’s largest economies have cooled, even as they remain economically interdependent. 

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Bob Herman
59 mins ago - Health
Axios Investigates

Documents reveal the secrecy of America's drug pricing matrix

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

American businesses spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on prescription drugs, and the bills keep getting bigger. But some of the companies promising to help rein in those costs prevent employers from looking under the hood.

Why it matters: Documents provided to Axios reveal a new layer of secrecy within the maze of American drug pricing — one in which firms that manage drug coverage for hundreds of employers, representing millions of workers, obscure the details of their work and make it difficult to figure out whether they're actually providing a good deal.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Margaret Harding McGill
59 mins ago - Technology

Congress' chip-funding pause raises alarms

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Despite bipartisan support in the Senate, a plea by the Commerce Secretary and growing desperation from industry officials, Congress still can't get a key bill that funds the U.S. chip business over the finish line.

Why it matters: With the global chip shortage continuing to crimp the economy, the semiconductor industry has ramped up pressure for funding of U.S.-based manufacturing facilities as one remedy.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow