Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company nabbed its first health plan partner, Capital Blue Cross.
Beginning this month, the Pennsylvania-based plan and Mark Cuban’s drug company (MCCPDC) will begin to let members and community organizations know about their collaboration and how they can access low-cost drugs, according to a press release. In 2023, Capital Blue Cross members will be able to use their insurance cards at the company’s online pharmacy.
The online pharmacy launched earlier this year, aiming to disrupt skyrocketing prescription drug prices in the U.S. It currently offers approximately 350 unique generic prescription drugs that it says reflect manufacturer prices plus a 15% fee. Many are offered in various doses.
Capital Blue Cross CEO Todd Shamash said the partnership will help bring “lower-cost medications to members and nonmembers alike” across the payer’s service area, providing some “much-needed relief to those struggling to pay for their vital—and sometimes life-saving—medications.”
“We are passionately committed to finding new ways, new relationships that help us improve affordability in healthcare,” Shamash said in a statement.
The organization’s mission is aligned with that of MCCPDC, echoed Alex Oshmyansky, M.D., CEO of MCCPDC: “Working with a like-minded organization like Capital gives us more momentum to help people get the medications they need at costs they can afford.”
While initially, MCCPDC was planning to launch its own pharmacy benefit manager, it then scrapped those plans, announcing its first PBM partnership last week. The PBM has no rebates and no spread pricing. Some experts have cautioned that while the company’s effort is effective, it isn’t tackling a more pressing problem—brand-name drug prices, given generic drugs are up to 85% less expensive. The company is hoping to offer brand-name drugs down the line, CNBC reports.