WASHINGTON, DC (December 4, 2017): The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) – a coalition of employers, insurers, life science companies, PBMs, brokers, agents, patient groups, and physician organizations – responded today to the pending acquisition of Aetna by CVS Health.
CAHC President Joel White released the following statement:
“CAHC has been proud to count Aetna and CVS Health as members of our coalition and is hopeful their merger will be a catalyst for lowering costs through improved care-coordination and fundamentally reshaping consumer incentives,” said CAHC President Joel White. “At CAHC’s Price of Good Health summit in November, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini discussed the need to reimagine how patients access their care, and to shift to a more wholistic view of patient health that recognizes the role of social and environmental factors in an individual’s wellbeing. This joining of forces between Aetna and CVS Health may help effectuate those goals. Specifically, their discussion of potentially turning existing CVS pharmacies into community-based care sites that offer one-stop shopping for healthcare needs could be a significant positive disruption to the healthcare system. CAHC will continue to follow details of the merger, but we expect better and smarter access to the health system with greater efficiency and lower costs. At the end of the day, we believe this is a win for consumers.”
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Background:
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) is a broad-based alliance with a primary focus: bringing down the cost of health care for all Americans. CAHC promotes policies that lower health costs through increased competition, informed consumers and more choices to help promote access to affordable coverage. Learn more at CAHC.net.