Dive Brief:

• CVS Health Corp. is confirming a Wall Street Journal report that its prescription-plan, offered through its pharmacy unit Caremark, charges higher co-pays when prescriptions are filled at drugstores where tobacco is sold. 

• The plan is in its early stages, and while many independents and other tobacco-free pharmacies like Target accept the plan, a group of independent pharmacies said that it's unfair and anti-competitive.

• CVS quit selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in early September and rebranded itself to emphasize its health care focus.

Dive Insight:

Its policy of eschewing sales of tobacco is likely costing CVS $2 billion each year, but the retailer says this move is about health and its own health care mission, not about hurting its competition. Still, the move could ding rivals like Walgreen Co. and Rite-Aid Corp., which have said they won’t stop selling tobacco despite pressure from anti-smoking groups and physicians organizations to follow their competitor's lead. CVS isn’t the only tobacco-free retailer that fills prescriptions — Target and others do too — but experts say the incentives could bring scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission.