CVS Health

CVS was a pharmacy on thin margins until twenty seventeen. They acquired Aetna, a health insurance company, for sixty-nine billion dollars. A pharmacy buying an insurer seemed backwards. But CVS understood vertical integration. Now they owned insurers, pharmacies, and clinics. A patient visited MinuteClinic, received treatment, got medication, and claims paid automatically without friction. Insurers wanted to minimize payouts to pharmacies. Pharmacies wanted to maximize margins. Both fought over money from the same customer. CVS owned both sides. When an insurer paid a pharmacist, that money was transferred internally. The friction disappeared and profit consolidated.