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    Why CVS Wants to Buy Aetna

    One reason has to do with the economics of health care. The other has to do with the economics of brick-and-mortar retail in 2017.
    by Joe Pinsker Dec 04, 2017 5 minutes
    Source: Alan Diaz / AP

    On Sunday night, the enormous drugstore company CVS said it had agreed to buy the enormous health-insurance company Aetna for almost $70 billion. It’s a deal that, if government regulators and both companies’ shareholders give it their blessing, would be the biggest deal in the U.S. this year.

    There are two main reasons CVS would benefit from acquiring a health insurer—one that’s specific to the economics of the health-care industry, and one that applies to just about any company that is trying to make money at brick-and-mortar stores in 2017.

    First, if CVS does buy Aetna, it might be able to win over more business—both from individual consumers and from employers buying plans on behalf of their workers. In theory, that’s because CVS could gain a

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