Blue Shield of California's New Pharmacy Care Model
Blue Shield of California is launching a new drug benefit initiative in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy and Abarca. This initiative, set to launch in January, aims to improve medication access, enhance price transparency, and lower costs for its 4.8 million members.
The initiative is part of Blue Shield's Pharmacy Care Reimagined program, which seeks to address the growing concern of prescription drug costs in the U.S. The program is projected to save up to $500 million annually on drug expenses.
Last year, Blue Shield of California discontinued using CVS Caremark, the pharmacy-benefit manager responsible for negotiating drug prices and overseeing services like mail-order pharmacy. Instead, the nonprofit health plan partnered with a specialized company group. Amazon.com will manage at-home drug deliveries, Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company will facilitate access to affordable medications, and Abarca will handle drug claims processing.
This move challenges the dominance of the three largest pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), which operate with major health insurers. Analysts question whether the venture can scale to rival established players. However, the partnership's leaders remain optimistic about its potential to deliver value to customers. They aim to redefine medication management for millions of patients by leveraging Amazon's logistics and Abarca's innovative approach.