US pharmacy firm CVS to buy health insurer Aetna for $69bn

US pharmacy chain CVS has agreed to buy health insurer Aetna in what could be the largest acquisition this year.
The deal worth around $69bn (£51.1bn) requires approval by regulators and shareholders.
The proposed tie-up comes amid speculation that online shopping giant Amazon plans to move into the pharmaceutical market.
If it goes ahead, CVS said the acquisition has the potential to reshape America's healthcare industry.
"This combination brings together the expertise of two great companies to remake the consumer health care experience," said CVS chief executive Larry Merlo.
CVS has agreed to pay Aetna shareholders $207 per share, including $145 in cash and the rest in newly issued stock. The agreement also covers Aetna's debt, bringing the total acquisition to $77bn.
Rising costs
The pharmacy chain operator's planned acquisition of Aetna, America's third largest health insurer, comes amid rising medical costs for many Americans and their employers, including for prescription medicines.
Proposed tax cuts could also see a reduction in government-funded health programmes such as Medicaid.
CVS said the merger would put the firm in a better position to help customers as healthcare costs are growing at an "unsustainable rate".
"This transaction fills an unmet need in the current healthcare system and presents a unique opportunity to redefine access to high-quality care in lower cost, local settings", CVS said in a statement.
Under the merger plan, CVS could turn parts of its 10,000 stores into community health centres staffed with pharmacists, nurses and nutritionists.
Analysts say the deal comes at a time when pharmacies and healthcare providers are looking for ways to make it cheaper and easier for their clients to access their services.
But there is no guarantee the acquisition will go ahead. Mergers involving health insurance companies have recently collapsed after being blocked by federal judges over antitrust concerns, including Aetna's plan to buy Humana for $34bn in 2015.

Comments

#Maureen - The Meeting

CHAPTER ONE THE MEETING EPISODE ONE Echoesminds. com/Maureen They say life is a long story about how we died, it truly is, and this is truly a long story of one of the most beautiful, friendly and gorgeous minds ever seen, a mind that ended unexpectedly, unfortunately so soon, sooner than anyone could have ever expected, was the sacrifice worth it? “Maureen, do not take a step out of that door, mama asked you to clean the kitchen before leaving, and I will make sure you see to this before you step out”, Debbie insisted, “but you can do that for me and I will help you out in the evening with the dishes, I just need to leave now, I told Sarah I would make it early to her house, so she can help me with the making of my hair before her younger brother returns, please let me go” Maureen insisted holding and pecking Debbie as she spoke and immediately runs out of the house. “Please, watch the road carefully before crossing ooo Idiot”, Debbie screamed out through the windo...

#Campus Gem's Officially kicks off / The September Gem's - Volume 1

With great joy in my mind, on this 31st day of August 2017, EchoesMinds Campus Gem's officially Opens in the Name of the Most High, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Every week Echoes brings you a Gem from one of Nigeria Institutions, to inspire and motivate the youths in the country, being in the higher Institution isn't just to study to end up in an office but to create and innovate and it's now you can, you have to see beyond being an employee after life in the institution but to become an employer of labour... With God and hardwork, we hope to take Campus Gem's beyond Nigeria in the nearest future. BE AN INNOVATOR NOT THE INNOVATED....... This month we will be introducing to us four Gem's and they are : PEBZY, DERIN'S FACES, HONEY MIX and WITTY GAB... Great Nigerian Students, aren't you curious as to what this four Gem's are into respectively? Well, I want you to be curious, but there is a free 1k(one thousand naira) call card to the first person...

ALWAYS A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Many have been so broken, to the extend they see everything about life as dark. Some have even lost the hope of anything good in life. So take life as "Nothing good comes out of it". Verse versa, So many good people have spent their entire life tagging some others as total darkness, but No, there is nothing of such as total darkness, there is always a light in every darkness, waiting to shine, but it needs more attention to do that. Remember, " more charging time is to power the brightness of the touch" the moment you stop charging, then gradually it goes brim and finally dies off. So have we failed to help some people let their light shine by casting them out, not giving a single chance to them. So I inspire you today to stand by those whom you ones tagged as darkness, you could do that from a far not necessarily physically close. The same goes to you who have tagged the world as dark and given up hope, there are is a light out there for you deep within the darkne...

ECHOES

Search This Blog