If Aetna Inc. is eventually swallowed by CVS Health Corp., an important part of the health-care business will be changed -- perhaps for good.
For years, pharmacy benefits were largely carved out from the rest of a medical coverage plan. But increasingly the two services are being combined, a move that in theory will make it easier to verify whether expensive drugs are worth the cost. A merger of the third-biggest health insurer with the largest U.S. drugstore chain, which also operates a pharmacy-benefit management company, could speed the process.
“You are hearing the warning for the end of the road for the classic standalone” pharmacy-benefit business, said Pratap Khedkar, managing principal at consulting firm ZS Associates.
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