CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022.
Blue Shield, whose health plans cover 4.8 million members, said it will now work with five different companies, including Mark Cuban's drug company, to provide "convenient, transparent access to medications while lowering costs."
Privately held Abarca will pay prescription drug claims, while Prime Therapeutics will work with Blue Shield to negotiate savings with drugmakers, the company said.
Blue Shield will also work with CVS Caremark for specialty pharmacy services.
The loss of the Blue Shield pharmacy benefit management contract is another blow to Caremark, which is also set to lose the contract to manage Centene's (CNC.N) $40 billion annual pharmacy needs from next year.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, UnitedHealth, Mark Cuban's, Paul Markovich, Mark, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai
Organizations:
CVS, REUTERS, Blue, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Pharmacy, Wall Street, Mark Cuban, Plus, Thomson
Locations:
Blue, Bengaluru