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CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

nytimes.com

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Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#21

Post by dr_ »

maxerickson wrote: post #4
rdl wrote: post #2

If this turns every CVS into a uniform, inexpensive office/urgent care/etc., particularly with telemedicine, I'll be happy -- the "minute clinic" stuff already provides cheaper and more convenient access to care, but CVS+Aetna+some kind of EHR could do something amazing.

Given that currently around 1 out of 9 locations has a minute clinic that seems unlikely. https://cvshealth.com/about/facts-and-company-information When I had Aetna, they didn't even cover getting a flu shot at the pharmacy. Maybe they changed that, but it's dumb, they covered it 100% using primary care.

I can attest to the fact that Aetna does cover flu shots now.

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#22

Post by aaavl2821 »

anilshanbhag wrote: post #19

Many are questioning if this move will help consumers. I think it will. Aetna is the third largest insurer and CVS is soon to be second largest pharmacy chain. Pharmacies provide basic care at lower cost, many insurance companies are moving Prescription Benefit Managers (PBMs) in-house to lower cost. By combining the two: CVS is able to get more customers for PBM due to Aetna and distribute the cost over a larger bas…

Historically consolidation of any kind in healthcare (hospitals, payers) tends to increase costs to consumers

This merger may create value but I'm sure Aetna / CVs will capture as much as possible themselves and consumers will see little of it

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#23

Post by pjmorris »

dqpb wrote: post #15
Karnickel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, https://ask.metafilter.com/297591/Origin-of-the-term-Enginee... > ...used to describe engineers and other technical folks assuming their technical knowledge of systems (usually computer, mechanical/electrical) gives them expertise in solving other complex issues. Most of health care is a power/influence and social problem: Who gets to control things, who gets the money, who gets influence over the stream…

Politics and power struggles don't build systems, they build shit-shows. Engineers build systems.

Engineers build systems, but who writes the specification for those systems, and who pays for them? Jerry Weinberg's [0] second law of consulting is "No matter what it looks like, it's a people problem." [1],[2].

[0] http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/, @JerryWeinberg

[1] https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/alikl/2008/11/12/three-laws...

[2] "The Secrets of Consulting", Weinberg

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#25

Post by itissid »

maxerickson wrote: post #4
rdl wrote: post #2

If this turns every CVS into a uniform, inexpensive office/urgent care/etc., particularly with telemedicine, I'll be happy -- the "minute clinic" stuff already provides cheaper and more convenient access to care, but CVS+Aetna+some kind of EHR could do something amazing.

Given that currently around 1 out of 9 locations has a minute clinic that seems unlikely. https://cvshealth.com/about/facts-and-company-information When I had Aetna, they didn't even cover getting a flu shot at the pharmacy. Maybe they changed that, but it's dumb, they covered it 100% using primary care.

And I do like that the pharmacy is next to the docs office.

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#26

Post by aaavl2821 »

sheraz wrote: post #12
ch4s3 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineer's Disease refers to specialists in one field assuming that they can speak with authority some other unrelated field. Healthcare in the US is notoriously complex and complicated, it would be naive to assume Amazon's success in distribution, ecommerce, and cloud services would necessarily translate to health care.

True, but there is a lot of low hanging fruit in the digital health space that amazon is especially efficient at.

People have been pursuing "low hanging fruit in the digital health space" for the last 5 years with little to show for it. Most successful (as measured by acquisitions / adoption in the broader industry, not by VC funding raised) health IT startups come from "flyover" states and are created by people with tons of domain expertise and enough engineering chops to execute, not the other way around

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#27

Post by meddlepal »

dqpb wrote: post #15
Karnickel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, https://ask.metafilter.com/297591/Origin-of-the-term-Enginee... > ...used to describe engineers and other technical folks assuming their technical knowledge of systems (usually computer, mechanical/electrical) gives them expertise in solving other complex issues. Most of health care is a power/influence and social problem: Who gets to control things, who gets the money, who gets influence over the stream…

Politics and power struggles don't build systems, they build shit-shows. Engineers build systems.

Engineers build shit-shows too... everyday.

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#28

Post by rsync »

I feel that perhaps healthcare is the ultimate triumph of capitalism.

Every other avenue of runaway consumerism and overconsumption can obviously be pointed to as either indulgent or unnecessary.

But not healthcare: it's your health, after all - your wellbeing. It's a fundamental right, right ?

...

The received wisdom is that the aging of the baby boomer generation is driving expanded healthcare expenses as this large sect gets older. It's obvious that they need all of this "healthcare".

But what if there were an alternative, more insidious explanation:

The boomers represent an irresistible pile of money. But they don't smoke. They don't have new households to start. They're getting wise to the whole sugar thing. What is left to tempt them with ?

What if there were a clear imperative on the part of a variety of industries to keep this population as unhealthy as possible - so they can stripmine their assets for "healthcare" ?

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#29

Post by orf »

dqpb wrote: post #15
Karnickel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, https://ask.metafilter.com/297591/Origin-of-the-term-Enginee... > ...used to describe engineers and other technical folks assuming their technical knowledge of systems (usually computer, mechanical/electrical) gives them expertise in solving other complex issues. Most of health care is a power/influence and social problem: Who gets to control things, who gets the money, who gets influence over the stream…

Politics and power struggles don't build systems, they build shit-shows. Engineers build systems.

> Politics and power struggles don't build systems, they build shit-shows. Engineers build systems.

The shit-show that is my current engineering-built system would beg to differ.

Re: CVS Is Said to Agree to Buy Aetna

#30

Post by [deleted] »

rsync wrote: post #28

I feel that perhaps healthcare is the ultimate triumph of capitalism. Every other avenue of runaway consumerism and overconsumption can obviously be pointed to as either indulgent or unnecessary. But not healthcare: it's your health, after all - your wellbeing. It's a fundamental right, right ? ... The received wisdom is that the aging of the baby boomer generation is driving expanded healthcare expenses as this larg…

[deleted]
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