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☆ Blue Shield California drops CVS; picks Amazon, others to lower drug price
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Non-profit health plan provider Blue Shield, which has 4.8 million members, said it will work with partners including Amazon.com and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company to provide at-home delivery and access to low-cost medications. 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 Blue Shield marks 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, Cuban's, Privately, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Wall Street Journal, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Company, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Blue Shield of California taps Amazon, Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs for its pharmacy network
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Bertha Coombs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Blue Shield of California is teaming up with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company and Amazon Pharmacy — turning away from traditional drug store chains and ditching in part health giant CVS — in a move to save on drug costs for its 4.8 million members. "I expect we're going to — when this ramps up completely — we're going to be saving $500 million a year," said Paul Markovich, CEO of Blue Shield of California. For Cost Plus, which sells drugs at 15% above wholesale prices, California Blue Shield is only the second insurer to sign with the online pharmacy since it launched in January 2022. "I think all payers realize that now that Cost Plus has made the price of medications transparent. The health insurer expects to launch the program for its members in 2025.

Persons: Mark Cuban's, Paul Markovich, Markovich Organizations: Drug Company, Amazon Pharmacy, CVS, Blue, of, Cross Locations: of California, California, Harrisburg , Pennsylvania

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: Walmart, Adobe, Cisco, Hawaiian Electric and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:Walmart — Shares added as much as 1% after the big-box retailer raised its full-year forecast and reported an earnings and revenue beat. Adobe — The software company added about 2% after Bank of America upgraded shares to buy from neutral. Hawaiian Electric — The utility company that oversees Maui Electric sank nearly 18% in premarket trading, continuing its slide over concerns of its potential liability in Maui's wildfires. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported Hawaiian Electric is in talks with firms that specialize in restructuring. VinFast Auto — Shares of the electric vehicle start-up fell nearly 5% in premarket trading as VinFast's stock searches for its level after debuting earlier this week.

Persons: Adobe, Cuban's, Wolfspeed, —, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Michael Bloom Organizations: Walmart, Refinitv . Revenue, Cisco Systems, postmarket, Refinitiv, Revenue, Adobe, Bank of America, Maui Electric, Wall Street Journal, CVS, California, Drug Company, Amazon Pharmacy, BAE Systems Locations: Williston , Vermont, California

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Walmart, CVS Health, Wolfspeed and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Cisco Systems — Shares of the computer networking giant added 4% after reporting earnings postmarket Wednesday that beat Wall Street's expectations. Adjusted earnings per share for its fiscal fourth quarter came in at $1.14, topping the $1.06 expected from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue was $15.2 billion, compared with the $15.05 billion expected. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.84 a share, ahead of the $1.71 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Wolfspeed — Shares of the semiconductor developer dropped 16% following the company's earnings report after the bell Wednesday.

Persons: Mark Cuban's, Rosenblatt, Ball, Adyen, Wolfspeed, América, MSCI rebalance, —, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Alex Harring, Samantha Subin, Michelle Fox Theobald Organizations: Cisco Systems —, Refinitiv, Revenue, Walmart, Refinitiv . Revenue, Street Journal, CVS, Blue, California, CVS Caremark, Amazon Pharmacy, FactSet . Investment, BAE Systems, Nasdaq, VinFast, Citi

☆ CVS stock drops after Blue Shield of California drops the pharmacy for Amazon and Cost Plus
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCVS stock drops after Blue Shield of California drops the pharmacy for Amazon and Cost PlusSteve Valiquette, Barclays analyst, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk Blue Shield California's announcement it is dropping CVS and switching to Amazon and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs.

Persons: Valiquette, Cuban's Organizations: California, Amazon, Barclays

☆ Everybody will sell first and ask questions later with PBM stocks: E Squared's Les Funtleyder
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEverybody will sell first and ask questions later with PBM stocks: E Squared's Les FuntleyderLes Funtleyder, E Squared healthcare portfolio manager, joins 'Fast Money' to talk the PBM business model's viability after Blue Shield of California dropped CVS in favor of Amazon and Cost Plus Drugs.

Persons: Les Organizations: Squared, Amazon Locations: California

☆ Mark Cuban: 'Success isn’t necessarily how much money you have'—here's how he defines it
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Cuban says his net worth isn't what makes him successful — it's his ability to to stay focused on doing fulfilling work every day. "Success isn't necessarily how much money you have," Cuban, 65, recently told LinkedIn's "The Path" podcast. "Success is just setting a goal and being able to wake up every morning feeling really good about what you've accomplished." Cuban, a serial entrepreneur and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," has a net worth of $5.1 billion, according to Forbes. "If I'm 25 and I'm doing this again, I'm probably [thinking], 'OK, what can I do to get acquired?'"

Persons: Mark Cuban, —, LinkedIn's, Forbes, CBS's, That's, Wharton, Adam Grant's, I'm, It's, Warren Buffett Organizations: CompuServe, Yahoo, Cuban, LinkedIn, CNBC

☆ You can now find Costco-style low prices for generic prescription drugs at Kroger in a partnership with Mark Cuban's online pharmacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alex Bitter | Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger is working with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs to offer some prescriptions at its pharmacies. Cost Plus customers can now pick up their drugs at one of 2,000 Kroger pharmacies. Patients who get their drugs through Cost Plus Drugs can now pick them up at one of 2,000 stores operated by Kroger, Cost Plus tweeted on Wednesday. He started Cost Plus in 2022. Cost Plus Drugs buys drugs directly from the manufacturer and ships them to patients at a 15% markup plus pharmacy fees.

Persons: Kroger, Mark Cuban's, Mark, — Mark, It's Organizations: Service, Kroger, — Mark Cuban, Plus Drug, Dallas Mavericks NBA, Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, Intelligence Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ralph's, Cuban

☆ Billionaire Mark Cuban swears by this ‘powerful’ negotiation hack: It’s ‘money in the bank’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban often sits quietly while his "Shark Tank" co-hosts are in a bidding war — and it isn't a coincidence. There will be times when someone walks in on 'Shark Tank' and I'm thinking to myself: 'There's no way I'm interested. "When I listen to the other sharks, they're going to tell me if I have any competition financially to do a deal. "Silence is money … money in the bank." Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.

Persons: Mark Cuban, Chris Voss, It's, Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, I'm, they've, Warren Buffett Organizations: Fireside, MIT Sloan School of Management, CNBC Locations: Cuban

☆ Mark Cuban's online pharmacy set to launch Humira biosimilar
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Michael Erman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, an online pharmacy launched by the billionaire to sell drugs directly to customers at low prices, should soon begin selling Coherus BioSciences's (CHRS.O) biosimilar version of AbbVie Inc's (ABBV.N) blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, Cuban said on Wednesday. Cost Plus Drugs will sell Yusimry for $569.27 plus dispensing and shipping fees. Coherus introduced its Humira biosimilar in the U.S. market this month alongside offerings from other drugmakers such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Sandoz and Organon (OGN.N). Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs aims to drive down the cost of drugs broadly by selling them at a 15% markup over its cost, plus pharmacy fees. Cuban said the company hopes to provide other biosimilar drugs as well.

Persons: Humira, Cuban, Coherus, AbbVie, Michael Erman, David Holmes Organizations: Cuban, Plus, Sandoz, Cuban's, Thomson Locations: U.S, Organon, Cuban

☆ Mark Cuban says healthcare has to have more of a 'Netflix model'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban recently appeared on the a16z podcast "Bio Eats World" to talk about healthcare. Cuban believes healthcare systems need to adopt more of a "Netflix model" to "truly work." Mark Cuban has been disrupting healthcare with his low-cost online pharmacy, but there are other areas of the industry that can be improved upon too, he believes. Cuban believes that this model, in some ways, can also be applied to a local hospital or healthcare system. "If we're going to change healthcare," Cuban said.

Persons: Mark Cuban, Vijay Pande, Andreessen Organizations: Netflix, Dallas Mavericks, Cuban, Plus Locations: Cuban

☆ Mark Cuban says he's losing nearly 1,000 Twitter followers a day—and paying $8 for a blue check hasn't helped
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

And his experiment to fix the problem — paying for Twitter Blue, which costs $8 per month, to give his account the blue checkmark it used to sport for free — isn't working. Last month, he asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk in a tweet for suggestions on how to "retain or grow" his follower count. In December, Musk tweeted Twitter was "working on a software update" where users would be able to see if their accounts were shadow-banned or not. "We're rapidly improving transparency & fairness on this platform, but there is still a lot of work to do," Musk tweeted on Monday. The act damaged the blue checks' value by making them both less exclusive and less credible, Cuban suggested.

☆ Pharma CEOs say Mark Cuban's effort to upend the drug industry is 'a really great idea' but will be difficult to pull off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Biopharma CEOs say his company Cost Plus Drugs could remove costs from the distribution system. Cuban told Insider in an email that he believed the company's pricing transparency was "an absolute positive for patients." The company started its pharmacy services last year and quickly racked up over 1 million accounts, Cuban told Insider recently. Cost Plus Drugs is focused on bringing down the price of generic medications, which no longer have patent protections but can still be expensive. Cuban told Insider that EQRx was in a "different business" than what he's attempting to build out.

☆ Billionaire Mark Cuban invested in digital-health's go-to pharmacy even though it struggled to keep up with orders from his drug-pricing company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban has invested in the online pharmacy Truepill, he confirmed to Insider. It works with Cuban's other healthcare bet Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.Mark Cuban's interest in breaking into the healthcare industry is heating up. In November, he backed the online pharmacy Truepill through its funding round, Cuban confirmed to Insider in an email. He's played an active role in his drug-pricing startup, which launched as the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. in 2021. When asked about the delays, Cuban said Cost Plus Drugs' volume exceeded both companies' expectations.

☆ Amazon launches a subscription prescription drug service
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount program to its growing health care business. The retail giant said Tuesday that it will launch RxPass, a subscription service for customers who have Prime memberships. Amazon Prime members can now receive all of their eligible generic medications for just $5 a month and have them delivered free to their door. Last year, the company shuttered its hybrid virtual, in-home care service called Amazon Care after it failed to get traction from employers. And Haven, a company Amazon created in collaboration with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway to improve health costs, dissolved a year earlier than that.

☆ Billionaire Mark Cuban has invested in yet another healthcare company: online pharmacy Truepill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban has invested in the online pharmacy Truepill, he confirmed to Insider. Truepill works with healthcare startups to send medications through the mail. It works with Cuban's other healthcare bet Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.Mark Cuban's interest in breaking into the healthcare industry is heating up. In November, he backed the online pharmacy Truepill through its funding round, Cuban confirmed to Insider in an email. He's played an active role in his drug-pricing startup, which launched as the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. in 2021.

☆ Why Mark Cuban called 'B.S.' on a 'Shark Tank' company that was on track to bring in $14 million last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Like Cabinet Health, Cuban's company Cost Plus Drugs offers generic drugs at a fraction of the cost charged by major pharmaceutical companies. Cuban put those instincts to work on Friday's episode of ABC's " Shark Tank ," when the billionaire told sustainable wellness company Cabinet Health's founders he was suspicious of their lack of profit. Cabinet Health, which launched in October 2019, wants to reduce and eventually eliminate single-use plastics in medicine. The co-founders entered negotiations seeking $500,000 for a 2.5% stake in Cabinet Health, which would value the company at $20 million. He offered $500,000 for 10% of Cabinet Health, which would value the company at $5 million.

☆ Mark Cuban's pharmaceuticals startup ties up with RxPreferred
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban's pharmaceuticals startup has tied up with pharmacy benefits manager RxPreferred Benefits, the companies said on Wednesday, in a move to offer lower priced drugs through some employer-backed health insurance plans. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs provides generic drugs through direct contracts with manufacturers and charges a standard markup on every drug it sells. Under the partnership, RxPreferred Benefits' customers will have the option to use Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs as part of their health insurance plans. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs in December partnered with EmsanaRx, a nonprofit coalition of nearly 40 companies including U.S. retailers Walmart (WMT.N) and Costco (COST.O), that operates a PBM service for employers. PBMs serve as intermediaries between drug manufacturers, health insurance plans and pharmacies to negotiate prescription drug prices.

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company negotiates directly with drugmakers. So far, that's been the strategy for the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. In October, Cost Plus Drug Company announced a partnership with Capital Blue Cross. Cuban said he wanted Cost Plus Drug Company to be as transparent as possible on pricing. Cost Plus Drug Company is considering a test program for insulin that would offer a 90-day supply of insulin, or a total of 12 vials, for $170.

☆ Mark Cuban could have retired early after becoming a millionaire at age 32—here's why he didn't
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

When Mark Cuban was in his 20s, he wanted to get rich and retire by age 35. He succeeded at the first part: At age 32, Cuban sold his first company, a computer consulting business called MicroSolutions, for $6 million. "I'm not retired because I'm too competitive," Cuban said. O'Leary promptly retired at age 36, and ultimately regretted it. "If I'm 25 and I'm doing this again, I'm probably [thinking], 'OK, what can I do to get acquired?'"

☆ Mark Cuban says 25% of his ‘Shark Tank’ deals are flops: ‘What the hell was I thinking?’
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

After 13 seasons on ABC's "Shark Tank," Mark Cuban estimates that he's had about as many hits as misses. Cuban says his "Shark Tank" deals aren't always solely about bringing in big financial returns. "I'm good with that with my 'Shark Tank' companies," Cuban wrote on Twitter in July. In July, Cuban told the "Full Send" podcast that he's taken a net loss on all of his "Shark Tank" investments so far. But that doesn't account for all the ongoing, operating businesses and their valuations," Cuban told CNBC Make It at the time.

☆ Why Mark Cuban keeps working, even though he wanted to retire at 35: ‘I’m too competitive’
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Almost four decades ago, a 25-year-old Mark Cuban had a goal: He wanted to retire within 10 years. "I'm too competitive," Cuban said, adding that this mindset it exactly what's propelled him to a long and successful career. "I wanted to retire by the time I was 35, and so that drove the decisions that I made." Nearly two-thirds of people from ages 57 to 66 retire early, even though the average wealth for that age bracket is $144,000. "If I'm 25 and I'm doing this again, I'm probably [thinking], 'Okay, what can I do to get acquired?'"

☆ Mark Cuban’s pharmacy startup is actually making drugs less expensive. It's still working on solving the real problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-28 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Imatinib, a leukemia medication with a retail price of more than $2,500, is just $14.40 at Cost Plus Drugs. But experts say that Cost Plus Drugs' impact is limited, at least for now, because it hasn't broken into the market driving those exorbitant prices: brand-name drugs. Instead of negotiating prices through those pharmacy benefit managers, Cost Plus Drugs directly negotiates with manufacturers to get generic drugs at wholesale prices. The trade-off: Cost Plus Drugs doesn't accept insurance claims, since insurers don't typically work with pharmacies that avoid pharmacy benefit managers. That gives drugmakers little-to-no incentive to offer rebates to Cost Plus Drugs, Hernandez notes.

The 26-year-old had been recently removed from his parents' health insurance plan and was about $300 short of the $1,300 he needed to pay for his insulin medication, his mother said. Though drugmakers often offer programs that can lower the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for both insured and uninsured patients, the financial burden can still be devastating for some. Why insulin remains unaffordableBut why does insulin — a medication that’s been around for more than 100 years — remain unaffordable for many people in the U.S.? Meanwhile, state and federal lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would lower the out-of-pocket cost for patients on insulin. She is pushing for more states to adopt the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act, which provides an emergency 30-day supply of insulin to patients for $35.

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