1. CVS Health entered into a definitive agreement Sept. 5 to acquire Signify Health, a home health company, for about $8 billion. Though the company’s services will remain open for all payers to contract with, Aetna will benefit from an expanded value-based provider network in all 50 states and the ability to deliver better care to members at home — CVS also has about 9,700 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
2. Aetna said Sept. 8 it is expanding its co-branded CVS Health insurance plans on the individual ACA marketplaces to a total of 12 states for 2023.
3. State College, Pa.-based Penn State University is dropping Aetna for Highmark to administer its employee health plan, the Daily Collegian reported Sept. 7.
4. A contract between Aetna and Lubbock, Texas-based Covenant Health expired Aug. 31, leaving almost 9,000 individuals without in-network coverage.
5. Aetna Chief Medical Officer Kyu Rhee, MD, spoke with Becker’s on Aug. 17 about ongoing trends across the healthcare industry and how he is working to create a “values-based” care system through opportunities offered by a global pandemic.
6. Portland-based MaineHealth will switch from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine to Aetna for its employee health plan carrier starting in 2023.
7. Aetna is part of a coalition of healthcare organizations that signed a memorandum of understanding July 26 committing to the California Advanced Primary Care Initiative — a plan to transition primary care practices throughout the state to a value-based delivery and payment model.
