EVERYTHING
According to Medicaleconomics, Humana’s CenterWell Pharmacy has officially partnered with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs to develop new employer-based drug benefit programs. This collaboration leverages the SwiftyRx platform to streamline prescription processing, onboarding, and automated benefit checks for a broader range of corporate clients.
Transparent pricing models for employers
The partnership positions pass-through pricing as a viable competitor to traditional pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Cost Plus Drugs, which launched in 2022, operates on a model where it carries approximately 2,300 medications—mostly generics—sold at acquisition cost plus a fixed 15% fee. Mark Cuban has previously suggested that widespread adoption of these direct-to-employer programs could save members "billions and billions of dollars" by removing the complexities of middleman markups.
While the specific financial terms of the agreement remain undisclosed, the impact on Humana’s infrastructure is notable. CenterWell Pharmacy reported nearly $13 billion in revenue for 2025, a significant increase from $11.6 billion the previous year. The pharmacy has already begun integrating high-demand medications, such as Eli Lilly's obesity drugs, into employer weight management programs.
Broader shifts in medical care and physician wellness
Beyond pharmaceutical distribution, the medical landscape is seeing significant shifts in both clinical practices and workforce health. Recent data highlights a positive trend in physician well-being alongside innovative neonatal treatments:
- Resident physician burnout dropped to 28.6% in 2025, marking a nearly 6-percentage-point decrease from the previous year.
- Job satisfaction among residents rose to 90.1%, with health leaders attributing this to structural and environmental interventions rather than individual self-care.
- A clinical trial published in JAMA found that symptom-based dosing for opioid-exposed newborns reduced hospital stays by two days compared to standard scheduled regimens.
The shift toward symptom-based dosing allows infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) to receive medication only when symptoms reach specific thresholds, enabling them to stop treatment earlier and return home faster. These developments suggest a dual trend in the industry: a push for radical transparency in costs and a move toward more personalized, evidence-based clinical protocols.