Cigna Plunges as Plan to End Drug Rebates Spooks Wall Street (2)

Cigna Group’s pledge to upend the way medicine is priced spooked Wall Street after the company warned the move would hurt profits in the next two years.

The company’s shares fell as much as 18% — the most intraday in more than five years — after Cigna executives warned of the margin pressure during what looked like an otherwise routine earnings call. It’s evidence that the company’s plan to eliminate many drug rebates — opaque payments that fueled years of attacks on Cigna and its peers — will hit its bottom line.

“This is a fundamental business model pivot,” ...