The nation’s largest retail pharmacy, CVS, announced on Wednesday, November 28, it had completed a US$69 billion acquisition of health insurance giant Aetna, CNBC reported.
“Today marks the start of a new day in health care and a transformative moment for our company and our industry,” CVS Health president and CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement.
Merlo said in a statement earlier this month that the deal will create new ways for the companies to engage patients’ total health care needs, with added convenience and lower costs.
“Our focus will be at the local and community level, taking advantage of our thousands of locations and touchpoints throughout the country to intervene with consumers to help predict and prevent potential health problems before they occur,” he said, adding that Aetna would continue to operate as a standalone company within CVS.
As part of the deal, Aetna agreed to sell all of its Medicare prescription drug plans to WellCare Health Plans.
