Big 3 Implement Conflicting Formulary Exclusions on Biosimilars

The Big Three PBMs — Cigna Corp.’s Express Scripts, UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx, and CVS Health Corp.’s Caremark — once again added new drugs to their formulary exclusion lists for the 2022 plan year, but the rate of new exclusions slowed. Industry insiders tell AIS Health, a division of MMIT, that the slowing amount of exclusions indicates the PBMs find high value in opaque, complex contracting agreements with providers, even though certain preferences in areas like insulins, specialty drugs and biosimilars defy the logic of list prices.

According to an analysis of plan documents by Adam Fein, Ph.D., CEO of the Drug Channels Institute, Caremark now excludes 433 products from its formularies, Express Scripts excludes 485 and OptumRx excludes 492. Each amount sets a record number of exclusions for each company.

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