As healthier members opt out of ACA plans, insurers will be left with sicker patients who they’ll need to push toward lower-cost care.

Aetna is finally finding its footing, managing medical costs more effectively, even as industry-wide pressures remain.

CVS Health’s Aetna is adding conversational generative AI (genAI) to its insurance website and mobile app. Aetna’s move highlights how insurers can use genAI to become more attractive to employer benefit packages.

The trend: Consumers pay broadly different prices for the same healthcare procedures across the US, with the highest average negotiated rate more than 9 times the lowest average rate in a recent assessment by Trilliant Health. Our take: Consumers want to be able to compare healthcare costs, but it’s still unclear how forceful the federal government is going to be in mandating true transparency—and if consumers truly grasp the publicly posted prices for medical services. We expect hospitals will continue to push back on any new regulations, while insurers will keep information on negotiated rates behind closed doors, thus perpetuating price disparities and not arming consumers with actionable insights that will lower their healthcare costs.

The news: CVS’s Q2 earnings topped estimates, buoyed by solid performance in its retail pharmacy segment and signs that its health insurance division is finally turning things around. Our take: CVS may not be thriving compared with earlier in the decade, but it’s in a good position relative to most of its rivals. That’s largely because of its diversified footprint across healthcare (pharmacy, insurance, PBM) that prevents the company from being overexposed in one struggling sector. CVS’ ongoing company turnaround could be a good sign for the similarly structured UnitedHealth, DOJ investigations notwithstanding.

CVS’ biggest healthcare moves in 2024: Eyeing a return to profitability for Aetna, the company prioritized cost-cutting measures and new leadership. We examine which of its health-focused moves could ultimately have the biggest impact on its bottom line.

CVS Health names health insurance exec Aetna head: The appointment comes as part of CVS’s mixed Q3 earnings report, the first under its new CEO.

CVS Health replaces CEO Karen Lynch: With its insurance arm, Aetna, failing to meet investors’ expectations, CVS’ decision to appoint a longtime pharmacy benefit manager exec as CEO could be just what the doctor ordered to start turning its financial fortunes around.

CVS Health explores possible company breakup: A series of concurrent headwinds are impacting multiple sectors of CVS Health’s business, leading concerned investors to step in and try to force its hand.

Is CVS Health turning into a primary care behemoth? The company’s new virtual primary care service fits into CVS’ goal of becoming a preferred healthcare destination for millions of consumers.

Telehealth is here to stay. It’s time for providers, payers, and vendors to give consumers what they want and make telehealth services a competitive advantage—or risk being left behind.

Retail health clinics + virtual primary care are the perfect pair: CVS rolled out Aetna Virtual Primary Care nationwide—we unpack how this shakes up the virtual primary care space and paves CVS’ path to success in digital health.

An increasingly important part of companies’ messaging efforts is content marketing, which they rely on to build brand awareness and engagement, provide thought leadership, and tap into cultural conversations around particular trends and topics.

To drive and support digital transformation, marketing leaders must evolve their organization’s people, processes and partners. This report covers how modern marketing leaders can bring that to fruition.

David Edelman, CMO at Aetna, discusses how he brings iterative, agile marketing to the 165-year-old institution.