Pharmacy Services

Elevance Health Plans to Acquire TX-Based Infusion Therapy Provider

January 8, 2024 - Elevance Health has entered into an agreement to acquire infusion therapy provider Paragon Healthcare, improving access to specialty medication for members, the payer announced. Elevance Health plans to buy the company from Peak Rock Capital, a private equity firm, in a transaction valued at more than $1 billion, according to Axios. “The...


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Centene Pays South Carolina $25M to Settle Overcharging Allegations

by Victoria Bailey

Centene Corporation has reached a $25.89 million settlement after allegedly overcharging South Carolina’s Medicaid program for pharmacy services. Per the settlement, Centene must pay South...

Quality Outcomes Are Better When Medicaid MCOs Administer Pharmacy Benefits

by Victoria Bailey

Pharmacy-related quality outcomes were better in states where Medicaid managed care organizations administered health plans’ pharmacy benefits, according to a report from Elevance Health. The...

Cigna’s Integrated Health Plan Reduced Care Costs for Employers

by Victoria Bailey

Employers saved more than $1,400 per member per year when employees enrolled in Cigna’s integrated health plan that coordinates medical, pharmacy, and behavioral benefits, according to a study...

Elevance Health Will Acquire Specialty Pharmacy To Treat Chronic Diseases

by Kelsey Waddill

Elevance Health has announced plans to acquire a comprehensive specialty pharmacy for patients with complex and chronic diseases. “As a trusted, lifetime health partner, the acquisition of...

New Aetna Pilot Aims To Improve Medicaid Member Engagement, SDOH

by Kelsey Waddill

Aetna’s new partnership leverages the pharmacist-patient relationship to improve Aetna’s Medicaid member engagement and better address social determinants of health, CVS Health announced...

Humana Lawsuit Alleges Drug Price Manipulation Against Drug Makers

by Emily Sokol, MPH

Humana filed a 600-page lawsuit against 37 pharmaceutical companies over an alleged conspiracy to drive up the cost of generic drugs. Among the defendants are industry giants such as Teva...

New Offering from CVS Looks to Advance Pharmacy Benefit Management

by Kelsey Waddill

CVS Health’s Vendor Benefit Management (VBM) will give pharmacy benefit management (PBM) companies access to a suite of vendors offering digital and non-digital solutions to supplement their...

Recent CVS-Aetna Merger Hearings Signal Challenges Ahead

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

The $69-billion merger of CVS Health and Aetna isn’t a done deal despite having received the blessing of federal officials and the two companies moving to integrate their businesses. Senior...

Amazon Will Accept Health Savings Accounts, Flex Spending on Products

by Jessica Kent

Amazon will now accept consumers’ health savings accounts and flexible savings accounts for purchases of qualifying health-related products, a report from CNBC revealed. This will allow people to...

Prescription Drug Prices Set for 3.8% Increase in 2020

by Jennifer Bresnick

Premier Inc. is projecting a 3.8 percent rate of inflation for prescription drug prices in plan year 2020, with non-acute care items comprising the majority of price increases. While price increases...

UPMC, AstraZeneca Enter Value-Based Pharmaceutical Contract

by Jennifer Bresnick

UPMC Health Plan and AstraZeneca are taking on the challenge of a value-based pharmaceutical contract for one of the manufacturer’s cardiovascular medications. Reimbursement for prescriptions of...

Price of Insulin Doubles, Increasing Spending for Members, Payers

by Jennifer Bresnick

Dramatic increases in the price of insulin are driving a rapid uptick in overall spending for diabetes care, according to new data from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). Between 2012 and 2016,...

Walmart, CVS Health Agree on PBM Pharmacy Network Rates

by Jennifer Bresnick

Walmart and CVS Health have signed a multi-year agreement to keep Walmart participating in the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management (PBM) commercial and Managed Medicaid pharmacy networks. Walmart...

CVS Health to Begin Important Work of Integrating Aetna

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

On the eve of Christmas, Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia decided against halting the integration of the two companies in a merger valued at $69...

Cigna Announces Closing of $67B Purchase of Express Scripts

by Jennifer Bresnick

Cigna is officially the new owner of Express Scripts after announcing on December 20 that the $67 billion acquisition has closed. Cigna calls the acquisition a “blueprint to transform the...

Prescription Drug Prices Rise Again After Brief Pause

by Jennifer Bresnick

Several dozen pharmaceutical companies are planning to raise their prices again in 2019 after temporarily holding off on increases as a result of federal pressure. Reuters reports that nearly thirty...

Cigna-Express Scripts Deal Secures Approval from CA, NY Officials

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Cigna secured approvals from New York and California to acquire Express Scripts, according to multiple reports. Zachary Vasile of the Journal Inquirer reports that New Jersey is the remaining state...

CVS Unveils New Pricing Tool for Pharmacy Benefit Management

by Chuck Green

CVS Health has introduced a new approach to the pricing of pharmacy benefit management services, the company announced. The Guaranteed Net Cost model simplifies the financial arrangements underlying...