[Jim Noble]

It creates the first health-care triple threat, combining CVS's pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager platform with Aetna's insurance business

Triple threat, minus medicine, surgery, and nursing.

[neverevergiveup]

“Triple threat” = attempted monopoly.

We need much more competition in medicine, not less. Hospital systems have now gobbled up smaller competing hospitals, bought out physician practices, and have bloated their administrative staff and administrative salaries to the point of being absurd. In the meantime, premiums continue to rise.

Now we have this attempt by CVS to protect themselves from the expanding number of small no-frills alternative pharmacies that have been popping up. Of course, if CVS is successful in their takeover of Aetna they will be able to ensure that these small competitive alternative pharmacies will be excluded from the listed of facilities covered by Aetna.