“EVHC’s business model is based on hoarding rebates from PBMs, the complaint alleges. It states that in 2024, 61% of the company’s revenue came from rebates.”
EVHC’s business model is based on hoarding rebates from PBMs, the complaint alleges. It states that in 2024, 61% of the company’s revenue came from rebates.
Wrongful firing lawsuit alleges Baltimore company hoards Big Pharma drug rebates
By Ian Round//March 13, 2025
A Harford County man says he was wrongfully fired from a health insurance broker for disclosing rebates from pharmacy benefit managers which should have been passed down to consumers, but which his boss wanted to keep secret.
Alan Wiederhold, a former vice president of compliance, operations and client management at Baltimore-based Evolution Healthcare, alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired in October 2024 for providing information to clients who asked about money Evolution received from benefit managers — which he says he was required to do by law.
Those clients declined to renew their contracts with the company, known as EVHC, to do business with other third-party administrators that would share rebate revenue, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Wiederhold followed the law, advocated for compliance with the law, and refused to violate the law,” the complaint states.
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are middlemen between drug manufacturers, pharmacies and health insurance providers. They negotiate drug prices and receive rebates from manufacturers when certain conditions are met. Those rebates are intended to be passed down as cost savings to consumers, but often are not.
A spokeswoman for AssuredPartners and EVHC denied the “baseless” allegations and highlighted a “culture of compliance” at the companies.
“EVHC will vigorously defend itself and its employees against this baseless lawsuit,” the spokeswoman wrote in an email.
“EVHC, its employees, and AssuredPartners look forward to the opportunity for the truth to come out in the litigation. EVHC is built on a culture of compliance. EVHC will continue to conduct its business lawfully and to be a resource for its clients in ensuring coverage for plan participants.”
EVHC, according to the complaint, is a middleman between PBMs and its clients, which are mid-size companies that sponsor employee health insurance plans.
EVHC’s business model is based on hoarding rebates from PBMs, the complaint alleges. It states that in 2024, 61% of the company’s revenue came from rebates.
Wiederhold says that Brenndan Mohler, EVHC founder and president, wanted it to be “opaque as hell” about the rebates it received from PBMs as part of a strategy to maximize profit and grow the executive bonus fund. In February 2023, Wiederhold was asked to look into rebate revenue at parent company AssuredPartners; he says he found $27 million in undisclosed rebates.
Wiederhold sued EVHC, Mohler, AssuredPartners and another division of AssuredPartners on Feb. 5 in Baltimore City Circuit Court. The defendants removed the case to federal court on March 12.
He alleges the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act when they directed him not to disclose rebate information to clients. He brings one claim of wrongful discharge and retaliation and one claim of retaliation in violation of ERISA.
He is represented by Bethesda-based attorney Madelaine Katz, a partner at Rifkin Weiner Livingston.
“Hardworking individuals and families are overwhelmed by the everyday costs of living: food, fuel, housing, transportation, medical care, utilities, and insurance,” the complaint states. “In an effort to alleviate those burdens, laws have been enacted, including ERISA and the CAA, to help restore purchasing power to the American family and improve the American consumer’s quality of life.”
It continues, “Defendants are pocketing the pharmaceutical rebates that were meant to lower the cost of premiums, instead of passing those rebates along to the Plan Sponsors.”
SOURCE: Daily Record
