Cost Plus Drugs founder Mark Cuban (Center) speaks at the annual Forbes Healthcare Summit Thursday, December 4th in New York with Humana chief executive officer Jim Rechtin (right) and Bruce Japsen, Forbes Senior healthcare contributor.
Jamel Toppin
Humana, one of the nation’s largest health insurers for older adults, and Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs are discussing ways to partner to lower the cost of prescription drugs for U.S. employers.
Humana chief executive officer Jim Rechtin and Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded Cost Plus Drugs, disclosed the potential for such a partnership Thursday at the annual Forbes Healthcare Summit. The two, who were on the same panel, said they were working together on ways to improve patient experience at the pharmacy.
The initial effort for Humana and Cost Plus Drugs will be in the area of direct-to-employer programs that bypass traditional pharmacy benefit management companies, Cuban said.
“We’re talking to CenterWell,” Cuban said of Humana’s CenterWell healthcare services business, which includes a specialty pharmacy. “I would say we are treating the whole person plus their wallet.”
Such a deal could be a big win for Cost Plus Drugs given Humana has more than 8 million health plan enrollees. Of those, more than 5 million are enrolled in Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans, which are popular choices for coverage among adults who are 65 years of age and older. “They have volume,” Cuban said during the panel, which was held at NYU Langone Health in Manhattan.
Details of the partnership weren’t disclosed, and it’s and still in early stages, according to sources close to both companies.
Rechtin said Humana is working on ways to simplify the pharmacy experience and take unnecessary steps out of the prescription process between the manufacturer and the ability of patients to get their medications.
It’s the latest effort by Humana to innovate and grow a business in the pharmacy space. Humana’s CenterWell expanded into the fast-growing and lucrative business of direct-to-patient specialty pharmacy as demand grows for popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
Humana’s CenterWell healthcare services business said it would expand beyond its traditional home-delivery pharmacy services business and will begin filling and shipping orders for the popular GLP-1 weight loss drug Wegovy that are prescribed through three telehealth companies: Hims & Hers Health, Inc., LifeMD and Ro.