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Transparency Fight Over CVS Caremark Contracting Practices Escalates With Lawsuit for Release of Univ. Drug Benefit Contract
Change to Win, Public Citizen Seek Records From Michigan School to Shine Light On Prescription Drug Costs, Increase Transparency in Government Spending
WASHINGTON
Change to Win today sued Ferris State University, seeking the
release of a government contract between the university and CVS
Caremark, a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company, among other
documents. Change to Win is represented by Margaret Kwoka, an attorney
at Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization with a history of fighting
for government transparency, and by attorney Ted Iorio of the Michigan
firm Kalniz, Iorio & Feldstein. The case was brought under the
Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in Mecosta County Circuit
Court.
"CVS Caremark's lack of transparency is driving up prescription
drug costs for consumers and health plans alike," said Chris Chafe,
executive director of Change to Win. "Michigan law protects the
people's right to know, in this case, what CVS Caremark is charging the
university for prescription drug benefits, but also what compensation
CVS Caremark may be receiving in the form of undisclosed agreements
with drug manufacturers and pharmacies at taxpayers' expense."
Change to Win filed the suit after Ferris State University, a public
college based in Big Rapids, Mich., partially denied a request for a
copy of the CVS Caremark contract. The school released part of the
contract but refused to release key portions such as pricing
information. Public Citizen and Change to Win assert that the redacted
information, such as prices, should also be disclosed. Change to Win is
engaged in an effort to increase the public accountability and
transparency of drug middlemen, such as CVS Caremark, to allow for
public scrutiny of drug benefits and drug pricing practices.
CVS Caremark Resists Transparency
CVS Caremark is enormously resistant to transparency. The company
has taken extraordinary measures to prevent greater disclosure of its
practices, including allegedly interfering with audits by its clients,
opting out of contract opportunities to avoid greater disclosure and
vigorously opposing legislative and other measures to increase
transparency in the PBM industry. Last year, CVS Caremark sued the
Texas Attorney General to prevent disclosure of a public contract in
Texas but dropped its suit on the day of trial last September. The
contract has since been made public. A recent study by the Texas State
Auditor's Office found that CVS Caremark's prices were significantly
higher than some competing PBMs, and called on Texas agencies to
educate themselves about PBM contracting practices before entering into
drug benefit contracts.
"Ferris State University is unlawfully withholding information about
its contract with CVS Caremark," said Kwoka. "Under Michigan law, the
full contract, including the prices, should have been released to our
client. Michigan FOIA law does not allow the university to withhold
information such as prices that are a necessary part of the terms of a
government contract. This suit will ensure that Michigan FOIA laws
serve the purposes they were meant to, permitting public scrutiny of
government practices such as contracting."
Right to Know in Michigan
Under well-established Michigan law, the people have a right to know
how government spends tax dollars through government contracts. The
Michigan FOIA provides that information submitted to gain a government
contract or other governmental benefit must be released upon public
request. The law reflects the public interest in the public
availability of basic information that allows for citizen debate and
oversight regarding the expenditure of government funds.
CVS Caremark is the country's second-largest PBM and has contracts
with many state entities across the country, including several in
Michigan. In 2005, the University of Michigan stopped contracting with
Caremark, citing concerns that its pricing practices were not
transparent. Many PBM contracts with government agencies, including
several Caremark contracts, have been made public in Michigan and other
states under Freedom of Information laws.
Public Citizen is representing Change to Win as part of its Public Interest FOIA Clinic,
which was launched last year and is designed to give comprehensive
assistance to other nonprofit organizations seeking government-held
information. Through the clinic, Public Citizen provides direct FOIA
litigation assistance to public interest organizations. Public Citizen
lawyers also collect and analyze information about recent FOIA
litigation conducted by public interest organizations to identify and
address common FOIA problems.
For backgroundand more information, visit: www.AlarmedAboutCVSCaremark.org.
To read the lawsuit, go to: https://www.citizen.org/documents/ferrisstatefoiacomplaint.pdf
Alarmed About CVS Caremark is a Change to Win initiative to
educate health plan managers and trustees as well as consumers about
the newly merged CVS Caremark, now the country's second largest
pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) and largest retail pharmacy chain.
Change to Win represents workers in CVS Caremark plans that cover more
than 10 million people. On behalf of these health plan members, the
initiative seeks reform of the PBM industry to protect plan members'
health and privacy.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
White House Says GOP Bill Would Force 'One of the Biggest Medicare Benefit Cuts' in US History
"House Republicans are trying to slash lifelines for middle-class families on behalf of rich special interests," said a White House spokesperson.
Feb 04, 2023
The White House on Saturday condemned a newly introduced Republican bill that would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, a law that includes a number of changes aimed at lowering costs for Medicare recipients.
Unveiled Thursday by freshman Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), the bill has 20 original co-sponsors and is endorsed by several right-wing groups, including the Koch-funded organization Americans for Prosperity.
The Biden White House argued that rolling back the Inflation Reduction Act, which also contains major climate investments, would represent "one of the biggest Medicare benefit cuts in American history" as well as a "handout to Big Pharma." According to Politico, which first reported the White House's response to the GOP bill, the administration is planning to release "state-by-state data indicating how this would affect constituents in different areas."
"House Republicans are trying to slash lifelines for middle-class families on behalf of rich special interests," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. "Who on earth thinks that welfare for Big Pharma is worth selling out over a million seniors in their home state?”
The Inflation Reduction Act authorized a $35-per-month cap on insulin copayments for Medicare recipients, as well as an annual $2,000 total limit on out-of-pocket drug costs.
The bill will also, among other long-overdue changes, allow Medicare to begin negotiating the prices of a subset of the most expensive prescription drugs directly with pharmaceutical companies, which fiercely opposed the law and are working with Republicans to sabotage it. The newly negotiated prices are set to take effect in 2026.
Ogles, whose two-page bill would eliminate the above reforms, repeatedly attacked Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs and protections during his 2022 campaign for the U.S. House.
\u201cNEW @Campbell4TN ad in TN-5: \u201cExtreme Andy Ogles in his own words \u2014 a SUPERCUT\u201d\n\nWatch @AndyOgles back a no exceptions abortion ban, cutting Medicare & Medicaid, eliminating Dept of Ed, impeaching Biden, deny the election was legit, etc\u2026 do better, TN-5.\nhttps://t.co/YhCRGXIPsU\u201d— The Tennessee Holler (@The Tennessee Holler) 1667748662
The White House's critique of Ogles' bill comes as Biden is facing pressure from advocates and physicians to cancel a Medicare privatization scheme that his administration inherited from its right-wing predecessor and rebranded.
It also comes as the White House is locked in a standoff with House Republicans over the debt ceiling. Republican lawmakers have pushed for deeply unpopular cuts to Medicare, Social Security, and other critical federal programs as a necessary condition for any deal to raise the country's borrowing limit and avert a catastrophic default.
"In less than a month, MAGA extremists have threatened to drive the economy into a recession by defaulting on our debt, promised to bring up a bill to impose a 30% national sales tax, and now have introduced legislation to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act," Patrick Gaspard, president and CEO of the Democratic Party-aligned Center for American Progress said in a statement. "This will cut taxes for corporations who earn billions in profit while empowering Big Pharma and Big Oil to continue ripping off the American people."
"It is vital that all Americans understand what is at risk if MAGA extremists succeed in passing their latest dangerous idea: millions of lost jobs, millions more without health insurance, and higher costs for lifesaving insulin, utilities, and more," Gaspard added.
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US Military Shoots Down China's Balloon Off South Carolina Coast
The Associated Press reported that "an operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon."
Feb 04, 2023
The United States military shot down a Chinese balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
"An operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and estimated to be about the size of three school buses," AP reported. "Before the downing, President Joe Biden had said earlier Saturday, 'We're going to take care of it,' when asked by reporters about the balloon. The Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed in a statement that "at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command" successfully downed the balloon "off the coast of South Carolina in U.S. airspace."
The U.S. has said it believes the high-altitude balloon was a part of a surveillance operation, something China has denied.
"The airship is from China," a spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry said Friday. "It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the U.S. side and properly handle this unexpected situation."
The U.S. first detected the balloon over the state of Montana earlier in the week, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his planned trip to China as tensions between the two countries continue to rise.
As Jake Werner of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft wrote Friday, members of Congress have "used the incident to hype fears about China," citing House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher's (R-Wis.) claim that the balloon posed "a threat to American sovereignty" and "a threat to the Midwest."
Werner stressed that "foreign surveillance of sensitive U.S. sites is not a new phenomenon," nor is "U.S. surveillance of foreign countries."
"The toxic politics predominating in Washington seems to have convinced the Biden administration to further restrict communications with Beijing by calling off Blinken's trip," Werner added. "Letting war hawks set America's agenda on China can only end in disaster. Conflict is not inevitable, but avoiding a disastrous U.S.-China military confrontation will require tough-minded diplomacy—not disengagement."
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'They Are Afraid of the People': Guatemala Tribunal Bars Leftist Presidential Ticket From Ballot
One election expert called the decision an "electoral coup."
Feb 04, 2023
Guatemala's Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled earlier this week that a leftist presidential ticket headed by Indigenous human rights defender Thelma Cabrera should be barred from the June ballot, prompting fury and vows of mass protests from Cabrera's supporters.
Thursday's ruling—which Cabrera's young political party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), is vowing to appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice—stems from Guatemala electoral authorities' refusal to certify the candidacy of Cabrera's running mate, former human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas.
Reporting indicates that election officials have justified stonewalling Rodas—a longtime target of Guatemala's right-wing political establishment—by citing supposed "anomalies during the collection of compensation" upon his departure from the ombudsman post last year.
But Cabrera and Rodas contend that the electoral tribunal's decision is a politically motivated attempt to keep a left-wing party—whose base is largely rural—off the ballot, which is set to include the daughter of Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, the former U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator who was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2013.
Montt's victims were largely Indigenous peasants.
Last month, the same electoral body that deemed Cabrera and Rodas disqualified from the June ballot ruled that Zury Ríos can participate, despite a constitutional provision barring the relatives of coup leaders from serving as Guatemala's president. Ríos was blocked from the 2019 presidential ballot on those grounds.
That year, as Nick Burns of Americas Quarterly recently reported, Cabrera "gave the Guatemalan political establishment a shock" by winning 10% of the vote in the presidential election.
"It was the most successful presidential run by an indigenous person in Guatemala’s modern history—the only other was by Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú in 2007, who won 3% of the vote," Burns noted. "Cabrera’s biography is striking. She grew up in a Maya Mam family of poor laborers on a coffee plantation on Guatemala's Pacific coast and was married at 15. She described in a book how she and her sister Vilma went to school through the sixth grade because their mother—who could not read or write—saw education as crucial."
Cabrera's supporters have vowed to "paralyze the country" with large-scale demonstrations if the electoral body's decision isn't reversed.
"If they do not do it, we are going to take over the international airport, the three ports of the country, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and all state institutions," said one MLP supporter. "We are Indigenous, we are Maya, and we can be out here for a month!"
\u201c#EUElecciones2023 Manifestantes amenazan con tomar el Aeropuerto Internacional La Aurora, los tres puertos del pa\u00eds y el TSE si no se inscribe al binomio presidencial del MLP | V\u00eda @noel_solis \n\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf9 #Elecciones2023 #EleccionesGT #GUATEVOTA2023\u201d— Emisoras Unidas (@Emisoras Unidas) 1675357690
Daniel Zovatto, a political scientist and expert in Latin American elections, said the tribunal's ruling against the MLP presidential ticket amounts to an "electoral coup" that "vitiates the integrity and credibility" of the upcoming contest.
Rodas, a human rights champion, lamented in response to the decision that "democracy in Guatemala has taken another step back."
"They are afraid of the people and their sovereign decisions," he said.
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