CVS-Oak Street Deal Could Boost Aetna MA Retention, but Faces Regulatory Risks

  • Feb 16, 2023

    Confirming a tie-up that had been rumored for months, CVS Health Corp. on Feb. 8 revealed that it struck a $10.6 billion deal to buy Oak Street Health, which owns primary care centers catering to Medicare-eligible patients. Executives of the two firms say the benefits of the proposed transaction abound for both CVS Health and Oak Street — such as improving retention for the Aetna segment’s Medicare Advantage business — but industry observers say the acquiring firm still faces a bevy of risks as it seeks to incorporate multiple new care delivery assets.

    During CVS Health’s conference call to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 financial results, CEO Karen Lynch and Mike Pykosz, Oak Street’s president, discussed the merits of the deal at length.

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  • Leslie Small

    Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.

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