Kaiser Permanente Joins Civica Rx In An Effort to Lower Drug Costs

Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser) is joining Civica Rx, a nonprofit organization that aims to combat drug shortages. Kaiser is joining Civica as a governing member with a seat on its board of directors. Kaiser is the largest nonprofit health system in the country and dispenses 90 million prescriptions annually.

Civica supplies its more than 50-member health systems with 20 generic drugs and is working to “significantly boost” generic drug production in the U.S., the company said in a news release. 

Civica is a public asset founded in September 2018 and formed by three philanthropies and numerous health care organizations that now represent over 1,200 U.S. hospitals in 46 states. It is a nonprofit enterprise designed to reduce chronic generic drug shortages and high pricing.

Civica will eventually own the Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) for the products that it sells. This means that it has the ability to control the quality and the supply of the product to meet its hospital partner needs.

This hospital systems that sit on Civica’s Drug Selection Advisory Committee pick the medications for prioritization. These drugs are approved by the governing board and the management team.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), 18 independent and locally-operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies and Civica Rx recently announced their partnership to create a new subsidiary dedicated to lowering the cost of select generic drugs. Other health plans, employers, retail partners and health care innovators who share the belief that patients and their needs come first are invited to join the initiative.

Takeaway: Kaiser adds influence to Civica’s effort to ensure patients and their needs come first and that essential generic medications are accessible and affordable