Blue Shield of California is set to launch a drug benefit initiative in January, partnering with Amazon Pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager Abarca, Forbes reported Dec. 5.
The collaboration, called the Pharmacy Care Reimagined Initiative, aims to reduce prescription drug costs and improve transparency for the insurer's 5 million health plan members.
The move follows Blue Shield's decision to sever ties with CVS Health's Caremark PBM, a change that caused stock prices of major PBMs to drop when it was announced in August 2023.
The new venture is expected to save Blue Shield up to $500 million annually in drug costs, executives involved told Forbes.