Last fall, CVS Health made seniors an enticing offer: If they signed up for the company’s Aetna Medicare plans, they could score free pickleball paddles. Also in the benefits were golf clubs, fishing rods and an array of other equipment appealing to spry retirees. The gambit worked. Enrollment in Aetna’s Medicare products surged this year. But it turned out CVS got more than it bargained for. The company’s Medicare business, hit by higher medical costs, pushed down CVS’s first-quarter earnings, with its results on Wednesday coming in well below Wall Street estimates. The results will put pressure on CVS Chief Executive Karen Lynch, who has presided over five earnings downgrades since her first investor day in 2021.
Read the full article: CVS Made a Big Bet on Medicare. It’s Looking Risky. //
Source: https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/cvs-health-q1-earnings-report-2024-7275f25b