, with some saying they are focused on whether the companies fully disclosed details about their business and potentially received overpayments under state contracts, according to state officials and documents.
States including Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas and Mississippi, as well as the District of Columbia, are scrutinizing PBMs, according to the offices of state attorneys general and auditors, as well as public documents including state contracts and securities filings. Details about the investigations’ focus are typically not public. Officials with some states said they were looking at companies in their Medicaid programs and state-employee plans. Among the companies under scrutiny are units of Centene Corp. , UnitedHealth Group Inc. and CVS Health Corp.
“I’m aware of many states that are looking at this,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, whose office recently sued Centene, alleging it had misled the state’s Medicaid program about its pharmacy-related costs, resulting in overpayments by the state.
A Centene spokeswoman said it “provides pharmacy benefit programs for Medicaid and Medicare according to the regulations, laws and contractual guidelines issued by state agencies.” The Ohio suit’s claims are “unfounded and will be vigorously defended in court,” she said.