Ownership of the prescription drug supply chain by a single large company can lower insurance premiums for consumers but leads to higher out-of-pocket costs for many, according to a May 2026 audit report.
The audit conducted by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services studied the impact of “vertical integration” on prescription drug costs for the Medicare Part D program.
Vertical integration occurs when a parent company owns multiple parts of the supply chain, such as an insurance company, a pharmacy benefit manager, and pharmacies.
Such arrangements have been widely criticized as opaque and monopolistic. …