What is not clear is how Aetna might engage independent clinical laboratories as in-network providers for this health insurance plan
For years, Dark Daily and its sister publication The Dark Report have regularly predicted that the traditional fee-for-service reimbursement model of indemnity health insurance that requires beneficiaries to pay a co-pay is on the way out. What is not known is how the nation’s biggest health insurers plan to reinvent themselves, as value-based reimbursement for providers becomes more common.
That may be clearer now, at least for one insurance giant. Aetna recently announced it was incorporating CVS Health services provided at CVS-owned pharmacies and retail clinics into a healthcare plan for individuals in the greater Kansas City, Mo., area.
The Aetna Connected Plan “combines CVS Health services—including free one to two-day prescription delivery and 20% discounts on thousands of health-related items—with Aetna’s cost-saving I-35 Performance Network to deliver a more convenient and connected member experience, along with up to 20% premium savings compared to comparable PPO products in the market,” states a CVS Health press release.
Members can schedule appointments at CVS Health MinuteClinics, request consultations at CVS HealthHUBs for no copay, and access other services, including telehealth visits, through CVS pharmacies. Essentially, Aetna made network providers for this range of CVS-owned health services.
CVS Health services, according to the press release, include:
- $0 copay at local HealthHUB and MinuteClinic locations,
- Free one to two-day prescription delivery,
- 20% discounts on thousands of health-related items in-store and online,
- 24/7 pharmacist helpline, and
- Access to the CVS managed pharmacy network, specialty pharmacy network, and Coram home infusion services.
The Aetna I-35 Performance Network includes:
- 1,247 primary care doctors,
- 8,300 specialists,
- 13 hospitals, and
- 32 urgent care facilities
The Aetna health plan will be made available next year to employers with 101 or more workers in three counties in Missouri (Clay, Jackson, and Platte) and two counties in Kansas (Johnson and Wyandotte). Aetna claims the premiums for their new plan are 20% less expensive than other similar plans for the region, MedCity News reported.
AMA Expressed Concerns over CVS Purchase of Aetna
CVS acquired Aetna for $70 billion in late 2018 and the two companies have been working to integrate their businesses ever since.
There are currently more than 1,000 CVS MinuteClinics located throughout 33 states and the District of Columbia. CVS began opening HealthHUB clinics in the Houston area last year and plans to open more than 1,500 HealthHUBs by the end of 2021, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Critics of the 2018 purchase of Aetna by CVS were concerned that CVS would somehow use Aetna’s 40 million members to drive revenue for its stores. Many groups, including the American Medical Association (AMA), Consumers Union, and pharmacy organizations were opposed to the merger due to anticompetitive concerns.
The AMA felt the merger would reduce competition in some pharmaceutical markets, which could lead to higher premiums and lower the quality of some insurance products. The organization also believed that the merger “faced enormous implementation challenges and was unlikely to realize efficiencies that benefit patients,” the AMA noted in a statement.
“We are very concerned about the consolidation in healthcare because we know that as healthcare systems consolidate, prices tend to go up,” AMA President Barbara McAneny, MD said in the statement. “And we are very concerned that with the CVS purchase of Aetna that drug prices will continue to rise and that is a major pain point of patients all across the country.”
The AMA also stressed concerns regarding how the lack of competition could have negative impacts on the pharmaceutical industry.
“It’s also causing harm to a lot of the parts of the industry,” McAneny added. “Independent pharmacies are going out of business and this consolidation makes them (CVS) just such a stronger player in that market that competition is really difficult.”
Despite the opposition, the CVS and Aetna merger received final approved from regulators last year. Before the merger was approved, the two companies had to convince state attorneys general, antitrust regulators, and Congress that the consolidation would not result in anticompetitive practices and impair independent drugstores and other national chains.
Will Aetna Engage Independent Clinical Laboratories?
Aetna’s new health plan is another example of how the nation’s biggest health insurers are adapting away from fee-for-service and to value-based reimbursement for healthcare providers. Clinical laboratory managers will want to watch how CVS and Aetna do or do not work with independent laboratory companies to collect lab specimens at the pharmacies and provide testing.
—JP Schlingman
Related Information:
Aetna Unveils Plan Nudging Members to CVS Clinics, Pharmacies
Aetna Launches New Plan Design That Puts Focus on CVS’ Health Services
Aetna Rolls out New Plan Built around CVS Pharmacies, Retail Clinics
New Aetna Health Plan Leverages CVS’ Retail Reach
