PHARMACY
AG alleges CVS didn’t share discounts with MassHealth members
Attorney General Andrea Campbell and a few of her peers sued CVS on Wednesday, alleging the pharmacy giant for years failed to provide Medicaid members with access to the same discount as cash-paying customers. Campbell and attorneys general in Connecticut, Indiana, and Oklahoma jointly filed a civil action after a whistle-blower complaint in Washington, D.C., prompting the company to “strongly dispute” the allegations. Prosecutors allege that since at least 2016, CVS failed to submit required “usual and customary” prices on prescription drug claims to Medicaid. The complaint alleged that through a discount card program with ScriptSave, CVS customers who paid in cash received discounts for some drugs that were not then extended to MassHealth and other Medicaid recipients. As a result, attorneys general said Medicaid payers often faced higher prices for drugs at CVS than non-Medicaid payers did. Massachusetts regulations require pharmacies to charge MassHealth the lowest price they would charge any other customer, according to Campbell’s office. “When pharmacies offer discounted drug pricing to its customers, they must also charge MassHealth that same low price,” Campbell said in a statement. “At a time when costs are sky-high, our taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for pharmacies’ inaccurate price reporting.” CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault said the company “strongly dispute[s] the allegations that our prices to Medicaid programs were inaccurate or inflated.” “We’ve always been transparent with Medicaid programs concerning the prices we were submitting. The four states involved in this lawsuit have never issued guidance to pharmacies contending that third-party discount card prices constitute a pharmacy’s Usual & Customary prices,” Thibault said in a statement. “For the last several years, many pharmacies, including CVS Pharmacy, have been named as defendants in other U&C lawsuits accusing the pharmacies of having submitted inflated U&C prices. In the cases involving CVS, we’ve prevailed many times, including by dismissal of the plaintiff’s allegations by the Court and by verdicts from juries or final awards by arbitrators.” — STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
HEALTH CARE
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Largest owner of R.I. community health centers to lay off 70 workers, citing Medicaid reimbursement rates
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The largest owner of community health centers in Rhode Island, serving nearly 100,000 patients, is laying off more than 70 employees, citing inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates. Providence Community Health Centers, a nonprofit organization operating eight clinics across the greater Providence area, confirmed the layoffs to the Globe Thursday morning. The system provides affordable pediatric and adult primary health care services, dental care, and behavioral health care. “These layoffs, while incredibly painful, are an absolute necessity for our long-term sustainability,” said Merrill Thomas, the president and chief executive of Providence Community Health Centers, also known as PCHC. Despite what he called a “strong balance sheet, the layoffs were directed by PCHC’s board, Thomas said, which has ”a fiduciary responsibility to PCHC and its patients.“ “These are difficult but necessary decisions to ensure we are here for the community for years to come,” Thomas said. The news comes as other health care organizations around the state and region are facing deteriorating financial situations. — ALEXA GAGOSZ
PHILANTHROPY
Bill Gates pledges his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will close in 20 years
Bill Gates says he will donate 99 percent of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion. The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever — outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations. Gates’s donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation already has an endowment of $77 billion built from donations from Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Buffett. “It’s kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,” Gates said in an interview with the Associated Press. His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the United States, and an eventual end to the foundation’s immense worldwide influence. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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CORPORATE
White men in the minority as US boardrooms enter new era
White men no longer make up the majority of board seats at the largest US companies, a historic shift reflecting decades of pressure to diversify the upper ranks of corporate leadership. For the first time, women and non-white men hold just over half, or 50.2 percent, of the more than 5,500 board seats at S&P 500 companies, according to data compiled for Bloomberg by ISS-Corporate. That compares with five years ago when white men accounted for almost 60 percent of the directorships. The question now is whether the shift is a short-term blip or becomes an embedded adjustment in the makeup of the people who oversee companies. The milestone also comes as political and legal attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are intensifying. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
OpenAI CEO, other US tech leaders testify to Congress on AI competition with China
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and executives from Microsoft and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices testified on Capitol Hill about the biggest opportunities, risks, and needs facing an industry that lawmakers and technologists agree could fundamentally transform global business, culture, and geopolitics. The hearing comes as the race to control the future of artificial intelligence is heating up between companies and countries. Altman’s OpenAI is in a furious race to develop the best artificial intelligence model against tech rivals like Alphabet and Meta, as well as against those developed by Chinese competitors. “I believe this will be at least as big as the internet, maybe bigger,” Altman said in his opening remarks about AI’s potential to transform society. “For that to happen, investment in infrastructure is critical.” Altman urged senators to help usher in the “dual revolutions” of artificial intelligence and energy production that “will change the world we live in, I think, in incredibly positive ways.” The witnesses included Altman; Lisa Su, chief executive of semiconductor maker AMD; Michael Intrator, cofounder of AI cloud computing startup CoreWeave; and Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft. The four executives unanimously urged lawmakers to help streamline policy for AI-related projects and fund-raising. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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TECH
Trump to end Biden-era program to bridge digital divide
President Trump said he would end a program that provides billions to extend internet access in underserved communities, casting it as unfairly providing grants on the basis of race. “I have spoken with my wonderful Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and we agree that the Biden/Harris so-called “Digital Equity Act” is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL. No more woke handouts based on race!” Trump said in a social media post Thursday, referring to the law approved under the administration of his predecessor, former president Joe Biden. “The Digital Equity Program is a RACIST and ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway. I am ending this IMMEDIATELY, and saving Taxpayers BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!” he added. Trump’s move is only the latest by his administration to target diversity, equity, or inclusion measures, which his conservative supporters argue discriminate against white Americans. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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