Florida, other states settle with Caremark

Florida will receive at least $1.7 million from a settlement with Caremark Rx involving 28 other states and the District of Colombia, state Attorney General Bill McCollum's office says.

Caremark Rx, a subsidiary of CVS Caremark, will pay $41 million to the states as part of a settlement. Of the $41 million, $2.5 million will be paid in direct reimbursements to consumers and $22 million -- including the $1.7 million -- will be paid into a fund to be used in various pre-determined ways to benefit prescription medication patients. The attorney general's office says the state is still determining how consumer reimbursements will be distributed. Of the $41 million, $16.5 million will be used to reimburse states for legal costs.

Benefits management companies such as Caremark process claims for prescription drugs.

The attorney general's office said Caremark engaged in deceptive business practices by encouraging doctors to switch patients to brand-name drugs and misleading the doctors about what that would entail. Specifically, Caremark did not tell doctors that it would be pocketing the savings from such switches instead of passing them on to a patient's health plan.

As part of the settlement, CVS Caremark denied the charges.
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