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Economy & Your Money

CVS Health announces plan to split into two companies

One company will hold the pharmacies and the other Aetna and Caremark, with the separation expected in the first half of 2028.

A CVS/pharmacy store in Napa, California, in 2023
A CVS/pharmacy store in Napa, California, in 2023. Photo: Missvain, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
9 news outlets reported this
Liberal4 outletsthe end of the healthcare conglomerate eraCenter3 outletsthe plan, leaders and terms of the splitConservative2 outletsbreakup bucks the trend and affects shoppers little
Published 4 min readMoney and daily life
Overview

CVS Health announced on Wednesday that it will split into two independent, publicly traded companies. One, called CVS Pharmacy, will hold about 9,000 retail pharmacies and in-store clinics. The other will keep the CVS Health name and include the insurer Aetna and the pharmacy benefit manager Caremark.

CEO David Joyner will lead the healthcare solutions company, and Prem Shah will run CVS Pharmacy, according to UPI. The company expects the split to finish in the first half of 2028. Shareholders will own shares in both companies, and the split is meant to be tax-free, UPI reports.

The move turns away from years of growth by acquisition, among them the 2018 purchase of Aetna. CVS has faced scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators over the size of such companies. Arkansas and Tennessee have passed laws aimed at them.

The Journal and the Financial Times reported the plans the day before. Yahoo News reports that CVS shares fell more than 10% on Wednesday, the day the company also posted third-quarter revenue of $108.4 billion and raised its full-year profit guidance.

Key figures
  • more than 10% drop in CVS shares on Wednesday, per Yahoo News — Yahoo News
  • $108.4 billion third-quarter revenue, up 5.4% from a year earlier, per Yahoo News — Yahoo News
  • at least $8.20 new full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance, per Yahoo News — Yahoo News
  • $117bn CVS Health's value, per The Guardian — The Guardian (US)
  • $402.1 billion CVS record revenue in 2025, per the New York Post (Reuters) — New York Post

Three sides of the story

Liberal4 outlets

the end of the healthcare conglomerate era

Yahoo News leads with investors: CVS shares fell more than 10% as the company announced the split and reported . The Guardian and The Boston Globe frame the split as the end of an era of healthcare conglomerates. The Guardian cites pressure from lawmakers and regulators, state laws in Arkansas and Tennessee, and a bill from senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren.

It quotes Arkansas state Rep. Jeremiah Moore, a Republican, on a "monopolistic company" and Joyner on "affordability, greater access". The Boston Globe notes critics who say the conglomerates drive up medical costs. Semafor ties the reversal of the 2018 Aetna deal to political pressure in Washington, which it says is expected to grow once Democrats regain control of in January.

It quotes Joyner saying the businesses are "best served by splitting."

Center3 outlets

the plan, leaders and terms of the split

UPI reports the mechanics of the plan. It quotes Joyner saying Aetna, CVS Caremark and CVS Specialty will "advance together" as a healthcare solutions provider, and a statement describing CVS Pharmacy as "the front door to health and care" in the country. UPI names Prem Shah as CEO of CVS Pharmacy, says shareholders will hold shares in both companies in a separation meant to be tax-free, and notes that completing it undoes the 2018 Aetna acquisition.

Goldman Sachs, UPI says, was among those in an advisory role. Forbes headlines the split as coming "as pressure mounts on vertical integration" and says the more than 9,000 drugstores go into one business, while the Aetna health insurance and the pharmacy benefit operations go into another. The Wall Street Journal's news pages carry a piece titled "Inside CVS's Decision to Break Up a Healthcare Juggernaut," whose description says the drugstore and insurance units are being divided as regulators press harder, and a second item on Cava that points readers to it.

Conservative2 outlets

breakup bucks the trend and affects shoppers little

The New York Post carries a Reuters report headlined "CVS breaking up its healthcare empire." It opens with the Wall Street Journal's Tuesday report that the retail pharmacies will be divided from the insurance and pharmacy-benefit operations, with one company keeping the CVS Health name under CEO David Joyner. Reuters notes that shares were up 1.2% in extended trading, that 2025 revenue was a record $402.1 billion, and that scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers is growing.

It also recalls that the Financial Times reported CVS was considering spinning off its retail pharmacy business. Just the News says the breakup "bucks the trend" of healthcare companies merging into conglomerates, and cites consumer advocates and lawmakers who argue consolidation gives firms too much control and drives up costs. It adds that shoppers at CVS stores should see little effect, since the announcement mentioned no closures, and that how patients pay for prescriptions shouldn't change.

Where outlets disagree
Money and daily life

Just the News says the split should have little effect on CVS shoppers, because the announcement mentioned no closures and it shouldn't change how patients pay for prescriptions. The separation is not expected to finish until the first half of 2028.

All sources: 14 articles from 9 outlets

Liberal (5)

Center (6)

Conservative (3)

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Quarterly earnings

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