North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Nov. 2 that Ahold Delhaize’s supermarket chains will pay $40 million in a multistate settlement over allegedly inflated prescription prices billed to Medicare Part D and Medicaid, according to his office’s announcement. The chains named include Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. The company, Ahold Delhaize USA, admits no wrongdoing.
The Justice Department first announced the $40 million agreement on June 10, and it covers TRICARE, the military health program, as well as Part D and Medicaid. Jackson’s release adds North Carolina’s piece: $503,460 in restitution and other recoveries. The federal government’s share is $32.9 million, and participating states split the rest.
For people who fill prescriptions at one of these pharmacies under Part D or Medicaid, the first question is whether any of this money comes back to them. Jackson’s office describes the recoveries as money for public programs, and neither his release nor the Justice Department’s announces a claim form or payments to customers. The programs, not shoppers, are the ones said to have overpaid.
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What did the supermarkets allegedly report?
The government’s allegation centers on a price called “usual and customary.” The supermarkets offered prescription savings programs that gave members discounted drug prices, and under the rules for Medicare Part D, Medicaid and TRICARE, those discounted prices should have been reported as the pharmacies’ usual and customary prices, the Justice Department says. Instead, the supermarkets allegedly reported higher figures on their claims.
That matters because the usual and customary price works as a ceiling in the payment formulas, the Justice Department explains. A pharmacy that reports a higher number than the discount it actually offered can draw more from the program. Jackson’s release says the programs “paid more than they should have.” Neither the state nor federal announcement says what years the claims cover.
Who brought the case, and who negotiated the deal?
The settlement grew out of a whistleblower lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, U.S. ex rel. LaBenne v. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V., et al. The Justice Department says the whistleblower, Lawrence LaBenne, a pharmacist at an Ahold Delhaize supermarket in Pennsylvania, will receive $6,083,587 from the federal share.
North Carolina’s announcement says a team from the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units investigated and negotiated the deal. Its members include the North Carolina Department of Justice and the attorneys general offices of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and they worked with the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The state release does not list every participating state.
The HHS Office of Inspector General lists the action as a False Claims Act matter and notes that the claims are allegations, not findings. The Justice Department says the agreement includes no admission or determination of liability.
What are officials and the company saying?
“Companies have a responsibility to report prescription drug prices accurately,” Jackson said, adding that his office will “work with our partners to hold them accountable and recover money for public programs.” Brett Shumate, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said federal healthcare programs rely on pharmacies reporting accurate pricing information.
U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti of the Western District of Pennsylvania said pharmacies are trusted with charging the contracted prescription prices to Medicare and Medicaid. Scott Lampert, acting deputy inspector general for investigations at HHS, said pharmacies in federal health care programs must report truthful prices.
A company spokesperson told Grocery Dive that Ahold Delhaize USA “admitted no wrongdoing” and cooperated fully, calling the matter “government billing questions related to programs discontinued nearly a decade ago.” The spokesperson was not named in that report.
How big is North Carolina’s fraud-recovery unit?
Jackson’s release places the deal in the work of the state’s Medicaid Investigations Division, which it says has recovered more than $1.2 billion in restitution and penalties for North Carolina to date. The division is funded 75% by the federal Department of Health and Human Services through a fiscal 2027 grant of $8,729,788, with the remaining 25%, or $2,909,927, coming from the state.
North Carolina’s $503,460 is a small slice of the $40 million total, and Jackson’s release describes it as restitution and other recoveries rather than money tied to any one customer’s purchase.
Paying the right price for prescriptions at your pharmacy?
The case rests on a gap between a discount-program price and the price reported on plan claims, and the settlement sends nothing back to customers. A person who fills several prescriptions a month is left holding the same question at the counter: is this the lowest price I can get?
That is a different job from the settlement, and 101 Phone Scripts to Lower Your Bills is built for it. The 23-page guide includes the subscriptions and pharmacy calls (cancel, pause, generics, cash prices) and 101 calls, word for word, for every company you pay, plus a call log for the name of who you spoke with and what you saved.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
