News Briefs: Tyson Drops CVS Caremark for Startup PBM
Tyson Foods, Inc. dropped CVS Health Corp.’s Caremark PBM in favor of Rightway, a fee-based PBM partnered with Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. Rightway promises to save employers 15% on their pharmacy benefit costs. Tyson’s head of benefits, Renu Chhabra, told CNBC that concerning jumps in specialty drug spending were a key reason behind the move. CVS withheld data that Chhabra hoped to use to manage costs, she said. “We were going anywhere between 12% to 14% increases for pharmacy — and on a $200 million spend that’s quite a bit,” said Chhabra. “I wanted to look at Humira, and I wanted to see what the acquisition cost was…it was very difficult to get to those numbers. Part of this was to really get a partner who can help us organize the information, make sure we understand how to manage specialty, and really looking at how to get the best net cost.”
