Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs Partners with Humana to Transform Employer Prescription Benefits
Key Insights
Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company (search) has formed a strategic partnership with Humana's CenterWell Pharmacy (search) to develop new end-to-end employer prescription solutions aimed at reducing drug costs for corporate health plans.
The collaboration combines Cost Plus Drugs' transparent pricing model and SwiftyRx (search) technology platform with CenterWell's distribution infrastructure, targeting employers seeking alternatives to traditional pharmacy benefit managers.
CenterWell Pharmacy (search) will use Cost Plus Drugs' SwiftyRx (search) software-as-a-service solution for medication order intake operations, with the goal of simplifying medication access and lowering patient costs through streamlined processes.
Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company (search) and Humana's CenterWell Pharmacy (search) have announced a strategic partnership to develop new end-to-end employer prescription solutions, marking a significant move to disrupt traditional pharmacy benefit management in the corporate healthcare market. The collaboration combines Cost Plus Drugs' transparent pricing model with CenterWell's extensive distribution infrastructure to offer employers an alternative to conventional pharmacy benefit managers.
Partnership Details and Technology Integration
Under the partnership agreement, CenterWell Pharmacy (search) will serve as a pharmacy partner of Cost Plus Drugs, while Cost Plus Drugs' digital pharmacy software-as-a-service solution, SwiftyRx (search), will be integrated into CenterWell Pharmacy's medication order intake operations. CenterWell Pharmacy employs more than 500 pharmacists who provide around-the-clock patient support and contributed more than $22 billion in revenue to Humana's total sales of $129.6 billion last year.
The collaboration is "focused on discounted prescription and delivery services," according to the companies' joint statement, though financial terms were not disclosed. The partnership was first discussed publicly at the Forbes Healthcare Summit in December but has now been formalized ahead of the Asembia ASX26 Summit in Las Vegas.
Addressing Rising Healthcare Costs
The timing of this partnership reflects growing concerns about prescription drug costs in employer health plans. U.S. employer healthcare costs are projected to rise more than 9% this year, exceeding $17,000 per employee, according to Aon, a benefits consultancy. This increase is driven in part by rising costs of prescription drugs, including popular new medications like GLP-1 (search) prescriptions for obesity (search).
"Everyone should be able to get safe, affordable medication," Mark Cuban, co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs, said in announcing the partnership. "This collaboration gives Cost Plus Drugs the chance to support more consumers. We're working with CenterWell Pharmacy (search) because we trust the team and like what they're doing in trying to improve prescription affordability."
Operational Benefits and Efficiency Gains
The partnership aims to "simplify medication access and lower patient cost by streamlining patient onboarding, automating benefit checks, reducing cost-to-fill, and driving greater operational efficiencies," according to the companies. The SwiftyRx (search) platform will enable CenterWell Pharmacy (search) to offer home delivery pharmacy services to Humana's eligible workforce enrolled in the Humana associate benefit plan. While Humana has more than 67,000 employees, the company did not disclose how many workers and dependents are enrolled in the associate benefit plan.
CenterWell Pharmacy (search) recorded nearly $13 billion in revenue in 2025, up from $11.6 billion the prior year, and earlier this year began dispensing Eli Lilly's obesity (search) drugs within employer weight management programs. Cost Plus Drugs, launched in 2022, carries 2,300 mostly generic medications sold at acquisition cost plus a fixed 15% fee.
Market Disruption Strategy
The partnership represents a direct challenge to traditional pharmacy benefit management companies, which have come under fire for lack of transparency in their revenue models. Many pharmacy benefit managers are eliminating controversial rebates they receive from drug makers or working to scale them back to provide clients with bigger discounts on prescription drugs.
"Today's announcements reflect an aligned mission to redesign access and affordability in a simplified approach, to help patients get the medications they need," said Bethanie Stein, Humana's president of pharmacy. "CenterWell's value as a distribution partner lies in our capacity, infrastructure, and proven quality measures, all of which drive a better experience for our patients."
Humana CEO Jim Rechtin has emphasized that simplicity, transparency, and reducing hurdles are key reasons the company pursued this unique arrangement between an established provider of health benefits and a smaller disruptor co-founded by Cuban. Cuban has stated that widespread adoption of direct-to-employer programs could save members "billions and billions of dollars."
The companies plan to expand beyond Humana's workforce, hoping to attract other employers to their employee prescription benefit model as they work to transform how corporate America manages prescription drug costs.