CVS to Buy Aetna for $69 Billion in a Deal that May Reshape the Health Industry
- 6 years ago
CVS to Buy Aetna for $69 Billion in a Deal that May Reshape the Health Industry
If the merger goes through, it could fundamentally reshape the business of overseeing drug coverage for insurers, an industry
that is dominated by three large players and that has increasingly come under scrutiny over the past year as public anger over high drug prices has expanded beyond the usual culprits, such as the pharmaceutical industry, to lesser-known players like pharmacy benefit managers.
CVS Health said on Sunday that it had agreed to buy Aetna for about $69 billion in a deal
that would combine the drugstore giant with one of the biggest health insurers in the United States and has the potential to reshape the American health care industry.
CVS operates a chain of pharmacies and retail clinics
that could be used by Aetna to deliver care directly to patients, while the merged company could be better able to offer employers one-stop shopping for health insurance for their workers.
With federal officials blocking traditional mergers, like the megadeals
that featured the nation’s largest insurers, including one involving Aetna and its rival Humana, companies are looking at combinations that take them beyond their traditional lines of business.
CVS Health, which also recently signed an agreement with Anthem to help the insurer start its own internal pharmacy benefit
manager, is looking to protect its business with Aetna as it fends off rivals like UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx and others.
But the deal also risks leaving consumers with less choice of where to get care or fill a prescription
if people with Aetna insurance are forced to go to CVS for much of their care.
Aetna had been exploring the idea of using a retail store as a better way of caring for people, said Mark T. Bertolini, the company’s chief executive.
If the merger goes through, it could fundamentally reshape the business of overseeing drug coverage for insurers, an industry
that is dominated by three large players and that has increasingly come under scrutiny over the past year as public anger over high drug prices has expanded beyond the usual culprits, such as the pharmaceutical industry, to lesser-known players like pharmacy benefit managers.
CVS Health said on Sunday that it had agreed to buy Aetna for about $69 billion in a deal
that would combine the drugstore giant with one of the biggest health insurers in the United States and has the potential to reshape the American health care industry.
CVS operates a chain of pharmacies and retail clinics
that could be used by Aetna to deliver care directly to patients, while the merged company could be better able to offer employers one-stop shopping for health insurance for their workers.
With federal officials blocking traditional mergers, like the megadeals
that featured the nation’s largest insurers, including one involving Aetna and its rival Humana, companies are looking at combinations that take them beyond their traditional lines of business.
CVS Health, which also recently signed an agreement with Anthem to help the insurer start its own internal pharmacy benefit
manager, is looking to protect its business with Aetna as it fends off rivals like UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx and others.
But the deal also risks leaving consumers with less choice of where to get care or fill a prescription
if people with Aetna insurance are forced to go to CVS for much of their care.
Aetna had been exploring the idea of using a retail store as a better way of caring for people, said Mark T. Bertolini, the company’s chief executive.