0 View Comments CVS Health delivered better-than-expected first quarter earnings as the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefit manager forged ahead with its buyout of the insurer Aetna, a deal the companies say will transform how customers get care. CVS Health announced late last year that it would spend about $69 billion in cash and stock on Aetna, the nation’s third-largest health insurer. CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo told analysts Wednesday that the deal gives CVS Health a chance to “rethink and reinvent health care in our country.” The companies are trying to capitalize on a growing push to take care beyond the occasional doctor visit in order to better control medical spending and keep people healthy. Insurers and employers who provide coverage want patients with chronic conditions to monitor their health more frequently so they stay out of expensive hospitals and emergency rooms. They also want people seeking help for low-grade problems like sinus infections to use less-expensive options like drugstore clinics. CVS Health plans to expand the services it offers through its nearly 10,000 retail locations, deliver more care at home and get more involved in helping customers with things like staying on their medicines. The company envisions turning some stores into one-stop shops where a customer with diabetes could get her eyes and blood sugar checked, visit a nurse practitioner and fill a prescription. CVS Health is targeting patients with conditions like high blood pressure, asthma or depression. It also wants to help others deemed high risk and… [Read full story]
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