Apple Watch, using Aetna client data, wants to help you be healthy
Posted on Tuesday January 29, 2019

Called "Attain," the Apple Watch app will reward Aetna customers for meeting activity goals and fulfilling recommended tasks, such as getting vaccinations or refilling medications, with a subsidy towards the cost of an Apple Watch or gift cards for U.S. retailers. Several insurers have offered such subsidies for using wearable devices to meet generic activity goals such as a number of steps in the past.

Exclusive: CVS to cover migraine drugs from Teva, Lilly; excludes Amgen
Posted on Friday January 25, 2019

CVS Health Corp, a top U.S. manager of pharmacy benefits, has added new migraine drugs from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Eli Lilly and Co to its list of covered drugs, excluding a rival treatment from Amgen Inc, a CVS spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. CVS's decision represents a setback for sales of Amgen's Aimovig, as many patients who rely on the coverage list will now have easier access to the rival Teva and Lilly drugs. Inclusion on the preferred drugs lists by the largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health insurers is seen as critically important for sales of new medicines.

Aetna, other health insurers team up with IBM on blockchain project
Posted on Thursday January 24, 2019

The companies intend to use blockchain technology, which allows the sharing of databases across a network of computers, for processing claims and payments and to maintain directories, they said in a joint statement. Blockchain, the technology that underpins crypto-currencies such as bitcoin, is being increasingly adopted across varied industries. Financial services firms too note the distributed ledger technology has the potential to generate wide-ranging savings.

CVS unveils 'Beauty Marks' in stores, warning shoppers of edited images
Posted on Thursday January 24, 2019

CVS Pharmacy unveiled an initiative in U.S. stores on Thursday, labeling photos of models in its beauty aisles to make it clear whether the images had been digitally altered. The U.S. No 2 drugstore chain, part of CVS Health Corp , is the first major American company to adopt such a policy in the face of rising concerns about doctored images setting unrealistic ideals of beauty, especially for young women. The retailer said on Thursday that 70 percent of all in-store beauty imagery was now flagged as "beauty unaltered" or "digitally altered." The company announced its "Beauty Mark" initiative a year ago, but only on Thursday did it appear in stores.