The Federal Trade Commission said three top pharmacy suppliers made profits of 7,700 percent on a lifesaving hypertension drug.

A new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report found that the three largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) have taken in large profits on lifesaving medicine for heart disease, cancer and HIV. Pharmacy Benefit Managers are third-party companies connected to pharmacies that are intermediaries between insurance providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers and claim to reduce consumer costs.

But high medical costs contributed to results that disappointed Wall Street, and the company’s stock fell on the news that it had made less than analysts expected.

Units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. charged significantly more than the national average acquisition cost for dozens of specialty generic drugs, bringing in more than $7.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, UnitedHealth Group has been charging patients markups on lifesaving drugs. Between 2017 and 2022, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum, Cigna’s Express Scripts and CVS Health’s CVS Caremark marked up their prices by hundreds — and in some cases,

Health insurance companies gained today with shares of Humana Inc. ( NYSE:HUM ), UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE:UNH) and CVS Health ( NYSE:CVS) are on the market movers list among top gainers. Government proposal that potentially raised payments for Medicare Advantage plans in 2026 was said to be the main reason for the increase.

Witty's comments came during the company's first earnings call since the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of the company's insurance arm UnitedHealthcare.

Patient Capital Management, a value investing firm, released its “Patient Capital Opportunity Equity Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. During the quarter,

Shares of health insurance companies are trading higher after The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a rise to Medicare Advantage payments.

Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

UnitedHealth posted a better-than-expected profit in the final quarter of 2024, but revenue fell short as challenges like Medicare funding cuts and a Medicaid enrollment drop hurt. Shares of the health care giant slid early Thursday after it released its first financial report since the brazen shooting of one of its executives outside a New York City hotel touched a national nerve and brought to the surface American frustration over health care access.