Executives from CVS Health told securities analysts earlier this week that they're optimistic about the ability of the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit manager business to cope with the new federal PBM transparency mandates.
David Joyner, the chief executive officer of CVS, which is best known for its retail drug stores, said Caremark has adapted to many changes over the years and will now change again to adapt to shifts in client needs and market dynamics.
The new federal PBM laws will require PBMs to provide employer health plans sponsors with detailed prescription benefits transaction reports and to pass all rebates and other discounts negotiated through to the employer plan sponsors.
"We believe the recent regulatory changes impacting the commercial market are manageable, particularly given the timeline for implementation," Joyner said. "We support legislation that does not impact our ability to create competition in the supply chain. We also support legislation that creates greater transparency for all stakeholders, including consumers, and enable savings to be seen directly at the pharmacy counter."
CVS held the call to go over results for the fourth quarter of 2025 with the analysts. It streamed the call live and posted a recording on its website.
Aetna: The CVS Aetna business now has about 18 million commercial health plan members, according to Steven Nelson, Aetna's president.
"It's the highest membership level that we've served in the last decade actually," Nelson said. "This is a strong business for us."
Retention has been especially strong, Nelson said.
Nelson noted that the growth came from expansion at self-insured employer health plans.
"Fully insured remains under pressure, just due to the disciplined pricing approach," Nelson said.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.