Health Services Index Takes a Hit as Trump Targets Drug Rebates

(Bloomberg) -- Cigna Corp., CVS Health Corp. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. -- owners of the nation’s leading pharmacy benefit managers -- pushed down the S&P 500 Health Care Providers & Services Index Friday following a U.S. proposal to pass on drugmaker rebates directly to patients. The measure comes ahead of Tuesday’s State of the Union address by President Donald Trump, whose administration has tied the rebates to soaring prescription-drug prices. In a statement Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called the rebate system “a hidden system of kickbacks to middlemen.”

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