Blue Shield of California 'Reimagines' Pharmacy Benefit Management

"The current pharmacy system is extremely expensive, enormously complex, completely opaque, and designed to maximize the profit of participants instead of the quality, convenience, and cost-effectiveness for consumers," Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, says in a statement.

That's why the health plan is moving away from CVS Health's Caremark as its sole pharmacy benefit manager to a model that brings together five companiesAmazon Pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, Abarca, Prime Therapeutics, and CVS Caremark"with like-minded philosophical and technology standards to build a new, innovative model following regulatory approval," per a press release.

The current pharmacy care system rewards some stakeholders for selling more drugs at higher costs, the nonprofit health plan said.

"The current pharmacy system is extremely expensive, enormously complex, completely opaque, and designed to maximize the profit of participants instead of the quality, convenience, and cost-effectiveness for consumers," Markovich says.

Under the new Pharmacy Care Reimagined initiative, Blue Shield expects to save up to $500 million in annual drug costs.

"With the help of Amazon’s upfront pricing, on-time delivery, and round-the-clock access to clinical care, we can provide a customer-centric

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