June - 2016

NEWS AND UPDATES

Aetna exec talks Humana merger, PBM plans, divestitures

At Goldman Sachs' annual healthcare conference this week, Aetna President Karen Lynch offered a cautious peek behind the scenes of the company's closely watched acquisition of Aetna. Lynch, who was a key figure in the effort to integrate Coventry into Aetna after it was acquired, touched on a variety of merger-related topics while reiterating that the company expects to close its deal with Humana in the second half of 2016. Here's a brief breakdown of what she discussed: Debt

The evolving role of the pharmacy benefit manager

Historically pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have been evaluated on their ability to lower total spend on prescription medicines for employers and health plans. They do this primarily by using their collective buying power to obtain discounts from pharmacies and rebates from drugmakers. According to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, over the next 10 years, PBMs are projected to save employers and health plans nearly $654 billion. That’s a big number. But is tha