Major health insurer Cigna intends to acquire the pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts for roughly $67 billion, according to multiple reports.
The bid is the latest sign of growing consolidation among healthcare service companies. It follows a bid by the CVS pharmacy chain to merge with health insurance giant Aetna.
Express Scripts is one of the biggest pharmacy benefit managers in the country. A benefit manager oversees a drug plan for an employer or health plan and negotiates for lower drug prices with manufacturers.
However, critics have raised concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the rebate deals that benefit managers strike with drug makers.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called out the benefit managers and insurers in a speech Wednesday. He said pharmacy benefit managers and insurers have created a “rigged” payment system that doesn’t provide enough benefits to patients.
