WellPoint Inc. plans to buy contact lens retailer 1-800-Contacts Inc. in a deal that would give the insurer its first direct-to-consumer business outside selling individual health coverage.

CVS Caremark Corp. gained millions of new prescriptions in the first quarter due to a contract impasse between two rivals, and now the drugstore chain wants to keep the growth going by ensuring that those customers stick around and use the rest of its store.

Shares of Aetna Inc. sank 10 percent Thursday after the health insurer reported a first quarter performance that missed Wall Street expectations, and it failed to raise its 2012 earnings forecast.

WellPoint Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit fell nearly 8 percent as enrollment slipped and expenses rose, but the health insurer raised its earnings forecast for 2012.

Total compensation for Express Scripts Chairman and CEO George Paz slid 17 percent in 2011, matching a drop the pharmacy benefits manager's stock took largely after it announced a $29.1 billion acquisition of competitor Medco Health Solutions Inc. last July.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s first-quarter net income rose 3 percent as enrollment and revenue gains countered an increase in operating costs, and the health insurer raised its 2012 earnings forecast.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s first-quarter net income rose 3 percent as enrollment and revenue gains countered an increase in operating costs, and the health insurer raised its 2012 earnings forecast.

SXC Health Solutions Corp. plans to buy fellow pharmacy benefits manger Catalyst Health Solutions Inc. in a deal worth more than $4 billion, less than a month after competitor Express Scripts Inc. closed a $29.1 billion acquisition.