Humana Agrees to Join Cigna Drug-Buying Group for Some Members

Humana Inc. said it has agreed to buy prescription medicines for some of its members through a purchasing group run by rival Cigna Corp., in a move that the health insurer hopes will help drive down its drug costs.

Beginning April 1, Humana will make pharmacy purchases for its group commercial business through a Cigna group purchasing organization, or GPO, called Ascent, a Humana spokeswoman confirmed in an email to Bloomberg News. Such purchasing collectives allow businesses to pool their buying power and seek discounts from vendors.

“This arrangement will help us leverage scale and buying power to extract ...