The House Judiciary Committee in an interim staff report accuses CVS Health of restricting independent pharmacies from working with digital pharmacy competitors to protect its market position.
The report, issued Jan. 21 and titled “When CVS Writes the Rules: How CVS Protects Itself From Innovation and Competition,” alleges CVS used its pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, to change network rules and issue cease-and-desist letters targeting pharmacies affiliated with hub-based digital pharmacy models. The committee said CVS’ actions may have violated antitrust laws and called for legislative reforms to address what it described as emerging anti-competitive behavior in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
In a statement to Becker’s, CVS Health said: “This House Judiciary report is misguided, misleading and inaccurate. CVS Caremark works to make prescription drugs more affordable in the United States, while ridding the pharmaceutical supply chain of potential fraud, waste and abuse.”
CVS Health said it is not opposed to pharmacy hubs and updated its provider manual in 2025 to make it easier for network pharmacies to work with the company. In addition, CVS Health emphasized that its policies are applied broadly across hubs and that CVS Caremark does not interact directly with hub operators. It also cited examples of documented fraud involving hub models and said its fraud, waste and abuse monitoring is part of its responsibility to clients, government programs and patients.
The House report’s findings are part of a broader investigation into consolidation and competition in healthcare delivery and financing.
