Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants UnitedHealth Group's pharmacy benefit arm OptumRx to repay $16 million to the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The move follows nearly a year of investigation by Ohio officials into the pharmacy middlemen who conduct billions of dollars worth of business with state agencies.
In a letter to OptumRx, Mr. Yost claims that OptumRx has overcharged the bureau since 2015. In particular, the PBM overcharged the bureau by $6 million in 2015, by $2.7 million between the beginning of 2016 and the end of October 2016 and by $7.2 million between Nov. 1, 2016, and Oct. 27, 2018.
Mr. Yost intends to take OptumRx to nonbonding mediation. If it fails, the dispute will likely go to court.
"The state of Ohio and the BWC consider these matters of public significance and have calculated the following overcharges attributable to OptumRx's failure to adhere to agreed discounts on generic drugs," the letter, obtained by The Dispatch, reads.
Similar moves are expected against other PBMs. While OptumRx is the PBM for one of Ohio's five Medicaid managed-care plans, CVS Caremark is responsible for the other four.
Read the full report here.