The Greeneville City Council heard from Attorney Crystal Jessee Tuesday afternoon who gave a presentation on an ongoing lawsuit against Pharmacy Benefit Managers, who she said has been price-fixing drugs, specifically insulin, causing insurance premiums to increase tremendously.
Her intent was to ask if the Town of Greeneville would want to join the lawsuit. Since Greeneville funds their own insurance they’re eligible to join the suit. Jessee believes the towns insurance premiums have gone up astronomically and said it’s because of the prices the town has been paying for insulin since 2002.
Jessee also presented information about the lawsuit during a previous Greene County Commission meeting and she said they are getting ready to file. She explained the town would take on no risk financially if they join the multi-district litigation and there would be no money out of pocket. In return, she said she wants to make the town back the money that it costs citizens because of the price-fixing of drugs.
Mayor Cal Doty asked how much could come from this lawsuit and Jessee responded it could be a couple million. City Administrator Todd Smith didn’t feel comfortable with the council voting just yet and neither did Councilman Tim Teague. Smith said he wanted to give more time so the public was aware of what would be on the agenda before any vote was made.
Councilwoman Ginny Kidwell also wanted more time to look over the agreement/contract, which was a lengthy big stack of pages. The lawsuit will be discussed again during a city council meeting scheduled on June 18th.
