Aetna will sell its Medicare Part D prescription-drug business to WellCare Health Plans, a move expected to pave the way for federal approval of its $69 billion merger with CVS Health.
The Department of Justice had raised competitive concerns over Aetna’s Medicare drug business, which covered roughly 2.2 million people at the end of June, according to a federal filing from the insurer. The price of the deal with WellCare, expected to conclude by year’s end if the government signs off the CVS transaction, wasn’t disclosed.
The sale is “a significant step toward completing” the federal review of the Aetna-CVS transaction, the insurer said in the filing. The companies still expect to complete their merger by the end of 2018.
Alongside the Justice Department’s antitrust review, Aetna and CVS Health are facing pressure from a top doctors’ group and some states over the combination. The two companies are prepared for a “seamless integration” with a goal of transforming the consumer healthcare experience, CVS Chief Executive Officer Larry Merlo said previously.
The federal government earlier this month approved a merger between Cigna and Express Scripts, another transaction involving a health insurer and a middleman pharmacy benefit manager.
