Walgreens Lawsuit Claims Pharmacy Overcharged Health Plan Providers

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Walgreens Inflated Drug Price Reimbursement Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A group of health plan providers filed a lawsuit against Walgreen Co. 
• Why: Health plan providers claim Walgreens overcharged them hundreds of millions of dollars by filing reimbursement claims with inflated drug prices.
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.

A group of health plan providers have accused Walgreens of inflating the prices of their generic and brand name drugs on reimbursement claims it provided them.

The lawsuit, filed in Illinois federal court, argues Walgreens overcharged health plan providers hundreds of millions of dollars through the alleged scheme. 

The claims revolve around $10 billion in reimbursement claims submitted to health plan providers by Walgreens since 2007, according to the lawsuit.

Health plan providers argue the reimbursement claims had drug prices listed that were “regularly five, 10 or even 20″ times more than what the company would normally charge customers who paid in cash. 

Walgreens’ alleged scheme is a violation of both federal and industry standards, health plan providers argue. 

Health plan providers say Walgreens alleged scheme involved charging customers greatly discounted prices for some of the most popular prescribed drugs through its Prescription Savings Club Program, among others. 

Walgreens Reimbursement Claims Reflected Inflated Prices

Walgreens would then file reimbursement claims for the drugs that reflected inflated prices, causing health plan providers to end up overpaying by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the lawsuit. 

“For those many millions of transactions, Walgreens should have reported the true U&C price,” the health plans said. “Had it done so, the adjudicated price — ultimately the price paid by (the plans) for the claim — would have, in many cases, been lower than what (they) paid based on Walgreens reporting a false and inflated U&C price.” 

The health plans say the basis for their claims came from a January 2019 announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that Walgreens would be paying $269 million to resolve claims it had overcharged medicare programs through false price reporting, Law360 reports. 

The health plans claim Walgreens is guilty of fraud, fraudulent nondisclosure and unjust enrichment and in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, among others. 

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief along with compensatory, consequential and general damages. 

Two separate class action lawsuits were filed against Walgreens in January by consumers arguing the company misrepresented the strength of its lidocaine patches and misled customers about the drowsiness effects of its cough medicines. 

Have you purchased drugs through Walgreens Prescription Savings Club Program? Let us know in the comments! 

The health plans are represented by Robert Gilmore, Jed Wulfekotte, Michael Petrino and Susie Kim of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP and Amera Ludwig of L&G Law Group LLP.

The Walgreens Inflated Drug Price Reimbursement Lawsuit is Carefirst of Maryland Inc., et al., v. Walgreen Co., et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-01362, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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