Overview
- Attorney General James Uthmeier filed the suit in Polk County on Aug. 27 against Prime Therapeutics and Express Scripts, accusing the two PBMs of a per se horizontal price‑fixing agreement.
- The complaint says the companies struck a December 2019 deal that took effect in April 2020 under which Prime adopted Express Scripts’ lower reimbursement formulas, and that the arrangement remains in force.
- Florida’s filing alleges reimbursement rates fell for about 80% of branded drugs and 70% of generics, cites an asserted $2.5 billion in three‑year cost savings to Prime, and gives examples of prescriptions filled at a loss.
- The state accuses the companies of violating the Florida Antitrust Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and is seeking injunctions, civil penalties, disgorgement, damages and a jury trial.
- Prime and Evernorth/Express Scripts deny wrongdoing and say lower reimbursements save money for patients and plans, and the case joins recent private suits and an arbitration award that together heighten legal and regulatory scrutiny of PBM practices.