CVS-Aetna merger? Here's what the 'good friend' CEOs have said.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal first reported that CVS Health (CVS) had been in talks to buy Aetna (AET) for more than $200 per share, or around $66 billion.

Some analysts were quick to call such a deal “insane.” Many analysts saw an opportunity to streamline and cut costs in the drug supply chain. A few analysts suggested this could be the beginning of big changes in the way healthcare is handledAmerica, where costs are unusually high and rising.

In recent weeks and months, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini and CVS CEO Larry Merlo have both separately spoken publicly about problems in US healthcare and they both advanced solutions they’ve had in mind. The two, who are ‘good’ friends, even acknowledged that they talk to each other.

Their own words would suggest a merger between CVS, the drugstore retailer that also operates walk-in clinics and a pharmacy benefit manager, and Aetna, the nation’s third-largest insurer, could the beginning of falling healthcare costs.

By Julia La Roche.
Full story at Yahoo News.