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* ACA is “clearly a big market” – CEO
* Sees $ 400 million to $ 500 million profit from COVID-19 in 2021
* Administered 3 million vaccines so far in the United States (adds CEO and analyst commentary, vaccine details and updates actions)
By Manas Mishra and Caroline Humer
Feb. 16 (Reuters) – CVS Health Corp on Tuesday announced that it would revert to selling individual health insurance plans on the online marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, claiming that the market had stabilized.
CVS Health’s Aetna insurance unit and other major health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc dropped these online exchanges in 2017 and 2018, amid financial losses and uncertainty as Republicans attacked each other to the signing act of former US President Barack Obama.
More than 11.4 million people signed up in 2020 for these plans, which provide government grants based on income levels.
“We’ve been looking at the individual market for some time. Some of the remedies have been put in place. Obviously there’s a big market,” Karen Lynch, recently appointed CEO of CVS Health, said in a conference call after the results.
CVS’s move comes as President Joe Biden told the USS Supreme Court last week that the ACA should be upheld and Democrats are considering extending coverage to more people.
Lynch made the comments on a company conference call where the company said it expected adjusted earnings for 2021 to be between $ 7.39 and $ 7.55 per share, up from $ 7.50 in 2020.
Analysts had expected 2021 earnings of $ 7.54 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. CVS shares fell 4.7% to $ 70.68 in the afternoon session.
Evercore ISI analyst Michael Newshel said the stock seemed overdone given that the 2021 financial outlook was in line with the company’s previous comments.
COVID-19[female[feminine
CVS has said COVID-19 vaccinations and testing will contribute between $ 400 million and $ 500 million next year.
The company has administered more than three million COVID-19 vaccines in long-term care facilities and now gives 250,000 injections per week at its pharmacies as part of a larger federal program.
The vaccines are two-dose regimens requiring 15 minutes of observation for each patient on-site, adding the potential for further sales, the company said.
Lynch said it will increase vaccination doses and expand to more pharmacies and states as early as March or April if supply increases as hoped. It plans to deliver 20 to 25 million shots per month.
During the conference call, CVS Executive Vice President Alan Lotvin said that based on conversations with pharmaceutical manufacturers, CVS estimates that approximately 500 million doses of the vaccine would be available by the end of the year. end of June.
Most of the vaccines will come from Pfizer Inc / BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. The US Food and Drug Administration is currently considering a vaccine from Johnson & Johnson Inc. which could be cleared in a few weeks and Novavax Inc. also hopes to apply. in the coming months of the FDA.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $ 1.30 per share in the current quarter, beating estimates of $ 1.24 per share (report by Manas Mishra, Trisha Roy in Bengaluru and Caroline Humer in New York; edited by Shounak Dasgupta and NickZieminski)
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