Dec 18 (Reuters) - Healthcare provisions in a stopgap

bill unveiled by top Republicans and Democrats are likely

manageable for companies that own pharmacy benefit managers such

as CVS Health ( CVS ) and UnitedHealth ( UNH ), Wall Street

analysts said on Wednesday.

The stopgap measure aimed at averting a partial government

shutdown includes a healthcare package that prohibits these

companies from deriving remuneration based on a drug's Medicare

list price.

Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, act as intermediaries

between drugmakers and consumers. They negotiate volume

discounts, or rebates, and fees with drugmakers, create lists of

medications covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for

prescriptions.

"It is important to note there is no call for the total

elimination of rebates in the legislation and the provisions do

not go into effect until 2028, which provides time for the

industry to renegotiate and restructure contracts," said Mizuho

analyst Ann Hynes.

The companies have come under increased scrutiny from

lawmakers over their role in high drug prices in the U.S. Their

shares fell earlier this week after President-elect Donald Trump

blamed PBMs for driving up costs and said he would eliminate

their role.

CVS' Caremark, Cigna's ( CI ) Express Scripts and

UnitedHealth Group's Optum control the majority of pharmacy

benefit management in the U.S., while their parent companies

operate health insurance businesses.

"Overall, the PBM provisions are a win for big pharma, but

may not accomplish the primary goal of lowering drug costs,"

Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn said.

These changes will require further evolution of the model,

but we believe PBMs still have a place in the "healthcare

flywheel", he said.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun

Koyyur)