Payers added partnerships with top tech companies, fitness brands and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban's new pharmacy in 2022.
Here are the most read payer-partnership stories Becker's reported this year:
- Mark Cuban's online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drug Co., nabbed its first payer partner, Capital Blue Cross, in October. In 2023, members of the Harrisburg, Pa.-based payer will be able to use their cards at the online pharmacy. Capital Blue Cross says Cuban's pharmacy has resulted in savings of up to 80 percent on common generic prescriptions.
- UnitedHealth Group and Walmart are partnering on a value-based care model for Medicare Advantage members and a co-branded health plan beginning in 2023. The 10-year collaboration will begin in 2023 at 15 Walmart Health centers in Florida and Georgia, which will be enabled by Optum's analytics and decision support tools. The new co-branded MA plan, UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Walmart Flex, is set to launch in Georgia first.
- Anthem launched a new telehealth platform to offer digital care to women for pregnancy, menopause and other women's health issues through a partnership with New York City-based Happify Health.
- UnitedHealthcare expanded its partnership with fitness club brand Life Time, offering access to Life Time's 160 clubs to millions of Medicare Advantage members. UnitedHealthcare members whose plans include the Renew Active program will be able to access Life Time clubs and Life Time's programming for older adults.
- Amazon Pharmacy scooped up payer contracts in 2022. In 2023, the online pharmacy will be the exclusive home prescription delivery service for over 2 million Florida Blue members. Amazon Pharmacy will also be a preferred provider for Centene Medicare Advantage members next year.
- Cost Plus Drug Co. picked up a partnership with San Leandro, Calif.-based specialty drug management platform Vivio, to help the pharmacy enter the specialty drug market.Vivio's clinicians and researchers match evidence from drug trials with individual patient data to improve outcomes and lower costs for their customers, which include health plans and self-insured employers.
- UnitedHealth expanded its partnership with Peloton. As many as 10 million UnitedHealthcare commercial members may become eligible for digital fitness classes under the renewed and expanded partnership with the fitness company.
- Humana and New York City-based investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe established a second joint venture to build more value-based primary care clinics for Medicare patients. The partnership will invest $1.2 billion to develop approximately 100 new CenterWell Senior Primary Care clinics between 2023 and 2025 and operate them to profitability.
- Elevance Health partnered with Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health to reduce inequities in Medicaid.
- Elevance Health teamed up with consulting company Aledade to assist independent primary care physicians transition to value-based care.