The merger of CVS with Aetna, worth $ 69 billion, is approved. This transaction could transform the healthcare sector.

The antitrust authorities gave CVS the green light to buy Aetna, the country's third-largest health insurance company, on Wednesday under a $ 69 billion deal that could transform the health care sector. to change the way millions of Americans benefit from basic medical services.

The Department of Justice approved the agreement on the condition that the companies sell the Aetna Medicare Part D prescription drug market.

The combination will enable CVS – whose retail pharmacies serve 5 million customers a day – to transform more of its physical locations into first-line centers of basic medical and patient care services. By deepening its knowledge and relationships with patients, CVS said that this association could help Americans adhere to their treatment regimen and stay out of the hospital.

It is the huge amounts of data generated not only by CVS '9,800 outlets and 1,100 MinuteClinics, but also by Aetna's 22 million medical members who will be at the heart of this new approach to care.

The result could make CVS a destination for more than just flu vaccines and the treatment of minor diseases.

"Our goal will be at the local and community level," said CVS General Manager Larry Merlo, "taking advantage of our thousands of sites and points of contact across the country to engage with consumers to anticipate and prevent potential health problems before they occur. "

The acquisition of Aetna should also give CVS more weight in its negotiations with drug manufacturers on the price of drugs, analysts said.

CVS and Aetna "are doing what everyone in the healthcare sector is doing now, on a larger scale – by responding to ongoing cost pressures by market forces such as the ACA, Consumerism and other players in the industry competing with each other, "said Brad Haller, M & A Counsel for West Monroe.

A large part of the American health care system revolves around the resolution of expensive diseases. CVS and Aetna are trying to be part of the American social fabric using the local retail pharmacy as a window on people's lives beyond the doctor's office and assuming the role of medical assistant.

The merger of CVS could lead to a future in which the company will coordinate the transportation of patients with difficulties to attend regular medical appointments, said Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini. This help could extend to nutrition counseling or even the use of wearable devices to automatically inform patients and health care providers of a potential problem.

This story is growing.