The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with CVS Health's pharmacy benefit manager business on Tuesday, the agency's second major agreement this year with drug industry middlemen.

Shares of CVS Health closed slightly higher Tuesday, about a quarter of a percentage point. Wall Street had expected a settlement after the two sides came to a proposed agreement in March, though terms weren't released at the time.

Pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, play a key role in negotiating with drug companies and selecting which prescription drugs will be covered by an insurance plan. In litigation filed in 2024 during the Biden administration, the commission alleged that rebates and fees collected by major PBMs from drug manufacturers artificially inflated the price of insulin. The companies denied any wrongdoing.

The new Caremark settlement "delinks PBM fees from drug list prices" -- similar to a settlement reached earlier this year with Cigna's Express Scripts pharmacy-benefit arm -- and "locks in place up to $8.5 billion in consumer savings" over the next decade, the agency said.

"The FTC under President Donald Trump won't stand for anticompetitive behavior that drives up prices for American consumers," according to a statement from commission chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. "The settlement with Caremark brings billions in real savings to consumers feeling the pinch from excessive prescription drug prices."

When PBMs receive rebates from drug manufacturers, they may pass a portion of that money back to insurance plan sponsors, such as large employers. But critics of PBMs say consumers often don't benefit from those rebates when they pay for a prescription at the pharmacy.

Under the settlement agreement, CVS Caremark said it would implement changes to its standard offering for commercial clients, such as "moving away from rebate guarantees" and promoting rebate pass-through as a "standard option to encourage plan sponsors to share drug cost savings more directly" with consumers who belong to the plan.

"Today's agreement advances and reinforces the changes we have already put in place and ensures affordability for families and patients across the country," Ed DeVaney, president of CVS Caremark, said in a statement. Caremark "remains committed to lowering costs and bringing greater transparency to prescription drug pricing."

Write to Catherine Dunn at catherine.dunn@dowjones.com

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July 14, 2026 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)

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