The designation allowed public health officials to begin tracking overdose data in real time and set in motion a multiagency effort to combat the epidemic. But some public health advocates doubt it will translatE into more help for people on the street using drugs.

If the individual major medical market stays as unpredictable in 2018 as it's been in 2017, and some of that upheaval spills over into other health insurance sectors, what then?

A central plank of the $67.5 billion merger of CVS and Aetna is transforming CVS's stores into health hubs where consumers can get care, pick up their drugs, buy some milk, and stay out of the hospital.