CVS Health plans to separate pharmacy and insurance businesses

CVS Health said it plans to separate its retail pharmacy business from its insurance and pharmacy-benefit operations, reversing the integrated structure it built through acquisitions. The company expects the separation to be completed in the first half of 2028. Under the plan, CVS Health shareholders will own shares in both companies. The business retaining the CVS Health name will be led by current chief executive David Joyner, while Prem Shah, the company’s group president, will lead CVS Pharmacy, CVS said. The announcement turns a breakup that had been under consideration into a stated company plan. Earlier reports described preliminary discussions, but CVS has now announced the separation and its expected completion window. The company has not set out in the supplied announcement a detailed final allocation of every business and asset. The move would unwind a strategy that brought retail pharmacies, health insurance and pharmacy-benefit management under one corporate umbrella. CVS acquired insurer Aetna for about $78 billion in 2018, adding to its existing pharmacy and drug-benefit operations. The company’s integrated model has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators....