Attorney General Tong Announces CVS Will Pay $36.5 Million to Settle Allegations of Over-Dispensing of Insulin Pens

07/06/2026

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong announced today a $36.5 million settlement with CVS Pharmacy, Inc (CVS) between Connecticut, the United States, District of Columbia, and 35 other states, resolving allegations that CVS knowingly submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to the Medicaid program related to the dispensing of insulin pens. As part of the settlement, up to $25,108,480.45 is allotted to the participating states’ Medicaid programs, consisting of up to $12,050,232.28 for the states and $13,058,248.00 for the United States. The portion of the multistate settlement attributable to Connecticut Medicaid is $1,089,945.85, of which the State only share is $633,913.76.

The settlement resolves the allegations set forth in five federal qui tam actions: United States ex rel. Azam Rahimi, et al. v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Case No. 18-cv-3047; United States and State of California ex rel. Wayne Wu v. CVS Health Corporation, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Case No. 19-cv-11244; United States ex rel. Zimniski, et al. v. CVS Health Corporation, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., et al., Case No. 19-cv-1550; United States ex rel. Sergiu Strango, et al. v. CVS Health Corporation, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., and Target Corporation, Case No. 19-cv-8454; and, United States ex rel. RJA, LLP et al. v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Case No. 20-cv-3047. The qui tams alleged claims under the federal False Claims Act and various state false claims statutes that CVS submitted false claims related to over-dispensing of insulin pens.

“Over a decade, CVS over-billed our public healthcare programs for huge quantities of insulin pens, filling refills too early, too often, and too many. In coordination with states across the country and our federal law enforcement partners, we are holding CVS accountable. We will continue to act aggressively to protect taxpayer dollars and the integrity of our healthcare programs,” said Attorney General Tong.

The settlement resolves allegations that, from 2010 through 2020, CVS violated the False Claims Act in connection with its billing and dispensing of insulin pens to patients enrolled in Government healthcare programs (“GHPs”), including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Specifically, the settlement resolves claims that CVS improperly requested and received GHP reimbursement for premature refills, dispensed more insulin pens than patients needed according to their prescriptions, and falsely under-reported the days-of-supply of insulin that its pharmacies dispensed. As part of the settlement, CVS also admitted and accepted responsibility for certain conduct, including that GHPs paid CVS substantial amounts for insulin pen refills that were ineligible for reimbursement and CVS pharmacies dispensed more insulin pens to GHP beneficiaries than they needed.

A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (“NAMFCU”) Team investigated the allegations in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The NAMFCU Team included attorney representatives from the Offices of the Attorneys General for the states of California, Florida, New York, and Wisconsin.

Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell, Chief of the Government Fraud Section, assisted the Attorney General in this matter.

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
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