Harshbarger presses insurance CEOs on market control, vertical integration, conflict of interest

WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing with major health insurance CEOs, Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, Vice Chair of the Subcommittee, pressed industry leaders on how excessive consolidation and vertical integration are driving higher costs and fewer choices for patients.

Drawing on her experience as a pharmacist and business owner, Harshbarger challenged executives from UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health to explain how patients and independent providers can fairly compete when a single corporate entity controls insurance coverage, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies, clinics, and the data that governs care decisions.

"When one corporation controls coverage, pricing, dispensing, and referrals, that's not competition — that's control," Harshbarger said. "It's not just participating in the healthcare market. It's writing the rules of the market, and patients are the ones who pay the price."

Harshbarger pressed the CEOs to identify concrete legal guardrails that prevent insurers from steering patients to their own pharmacies and clinics or disadvantaging independent competitors — rather than relying on internal compliance policies.

"If these safeguards are truly working," Harshbarger added, "why does consolidation keep accelerating, and why do patients, independent pharmacies, and physicians consistently report higher costs and fewer choices in markets dominated by vertically integrated insurers?"

The Congresswoman also raised serious concerns about the financial relationship between UnitedHealth Group and AARP, citing public filings showing that UnitedHealth has paid AARP billions of dollars through royalty and marketing arrangements tied directly to insurance premiums.

"When seniors are told policies are about 'affordability,' we need to be honest about the financial incentives behind the messaging," Harshbarger said. "If an organization's revenue grows when premiums rise, that raises real questions about who that advocacy is truly serving."

As Vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Harshbarger emphasized that congressional oversight will continue.