| You know diabetes is one of the costliest illnesses your clients’ employees can have. In fact, according to a 2020 study, about 13.6% of adult Arkansans have diabetes, and we rank 5th in the nation for the condition. Blood sugar management can reduce the risk of eye disease, kidney disease and nerve disease, but the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement noted a 54% increase in the cost of insulin between between 2013 and 2018. This is why Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and several other Blue Plans have joined with Civica Rx to make insulin available to all people with diabetes for $30 or less per vial, starting in 2024. Civica will manufacture and distribute three analog insulins – glargine, lispro and aspart – which are the biologic drugs of Lantus, Humalog and Novolog. “This partnership with Civica is one of the innovative ways Arkansas Blue Cross is looking to benefit our members, by giving them easy, affordable access to lifesaving medications like insulin, while also reducing the costs to our groups,” said Curtis Barnett, president and chief executive officer for Arkansas Blue Cross. In 2020, Civica, the Association and 18 Blue Plans announced the formation of CivicaScript, which will bring lower-cost generic prescription medicines directly to consumers in hospital or retail pharmacies as soon as the end of this year. You can read more about our partnership with Civica in the attached news release. |
