NEW YORK — The U.S. health care industry has been in flux for a number of years, but the pace of transformation now appears to be accelerating rapidly. Several of the biggest players in the U.S. health care sector are making moves to confront an uncertain future — one that may bring unwelcome competition and
TORONTO — Helena Foulkes has been named chief executive officer of Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC), an international department store and off-price retailer. The move brings to an end a 25-year career at CVS Health, where Foulkes most recently served as corporate executive vice president and president of CVS Pharmacy, the company’s retail pharmacy business. Following
NEW YORK — Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. plan to form an independent, nonprofit health care company to provide their employees better and more affordable health care. While details remain sparse, the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase health care company is considered a long-term effort that will focus initially on developing technology solutions to
WASHINGTON — In his first State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump renewed his pledge to reduce prescription drug prices, days after a former big pharma executive was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Trump had stunned the pharmaceutical industry during his 2016 campaign by declaring that drug manufacturers were “getting
NEW YORK — With the acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) now canceled and replaced by a smaller transaction, the chain drug landscape will retain a more familiar look. Nonetheless, all three parties to the original deal, which involved the purchase of 865 Rite Aid locations by Fred’s Inc., will
NEW YORK — The retail pharmacy market may soon face an unwelcome challenge from e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. According to a recent report by CNBC, the company has hired a number of people from the pharmacy industry and is conducting a search for a general manager to lead a team and create a strategy. The
WASHINGTON — The fiscal 2018 U.S. budget issued by the Trump administration calls for steep cuts in health care and scientific research while heavily boosting defense spending and offering substantial tax cuts. Dubbed “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” the spending plan was touted as a “taxpayer first” budget by Mick Mulvaney, director of the
WASHINGTON — The effort to end Obamacare is not over, although whether the Affordable Care Act will be completely shelved or recast is unclear. Despite last month’s aborted House vote on a replacement bill, Republicans continue to seek an alternative to the ACA that the whole party — and possibly some Democrats — can get
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health has appointed Thomas Moriarty to the new position of chief policy and external affairs officer. He had been executive vice president, general counsel and chief strategy officer. In addition, CVS has consolidated corporate communications, legal, government affairs and public policy into one operating unit under Moriarty, who continues to report
LANGLEY, British Columbia — Pharmasave Drugs celebrated a major milestone last month with the opening of its 600th drug store. The store network spans nine provinces of Canada and will be supplemented by many more outlets now in the pipeline for 2017, according to Carmen Churcott, chief executive officer of Pharmasave National. “Since 1981, when
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) and Prime Therapeutics LLC have completed the formation of a combined central specialty pharmacy and mail service company, a move that was first announced last August. The leadership team of the new enterprise, AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, has also been revealed. Joel Wright, formerly divisional vice president for
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) is reaping success with its beauty differentiation program and is now planning to expand the initiative to more than 1,000 additional Walgreens stores by the end of 2017 while introducing more exclusive brands into the assortment. The first phase of the Walgreens beauty differentiation program’s rollout called
MONTE CARLO, Monaco — The Alphega Pharmacy network, part of the Alliance Healthcare arm of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA), recently held its eighth European convention here, attracting more than 1,200 attendees from nine different countries. Based on the theme “Close to You,” the gathering featured presentations on health care innovation, global market developments and
WASHINGTON — Humana Inc.’s decision to pull out of the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act threatens to cripple Obamacare before Republican lawmakers bent on its repeal can cobble together a replacement. The Humana decision came one day before the Trump administration issued a proposed rule that attempts to offer insurers more
