Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. in partnership with Capital Blue Cross Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. partnership with Capital Blue Cross

Capital Blue Cross is the first health insurer to partner with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co., which sells fixed-price prescription drugs, the companies announced Thursday.

Capital Blue Cross will begin covering member purchases at Cost Plus Drugs next year.

“Capital’s partnership with Cost Plus Drugs will help us make lower-cost drugs available to members and non-members in our service area, providing some life-saving relief. much-needed support for those struggling to pay for important — and sometimes life-saving — drugs,” Capital Blue Cross President and CEO Todd Shamash said in a statement. newspapers. The aircraft carriers Blue Cross and Blue Shield operate out of central Pennsylvania.

Antonio Ciaccia, president of 3 Axis Advisors, who previously performed data analysis work for the Cuban company, said the health insurer’s nonprofit partnership was an “unusual” “. “Most health plans are employing traditional pharmacy benefit managers who are responsible for creating this high price culture for incentives,” he said.

The Cuban billionaire’s for-profit pharmaceutical company sells drugs for 15% more than they pay manufacturers. Cost Plus Drugs opened an online pharmacy in January, offering 1,000 prescription drugs, including the cholesterol drug atorvastatin, also known as Lipitor, for about $4 per month through the company.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans often align with plan sponsors’ interests rather than for-profit insurers, Ciaccia said. He predicts more health insurers and pharmaceutical benefit managers will partner with Cost Plus Drugs over time.