Tuesday Tidbits

Healthcare Dive reports on CVS Health's investor announcements today.  Of note --

• CVS Health plans to open 1,500 HealthHUB stores by the end of 2021 as part of its enterprise growth strategy. By the end of this year, the pharmacy chain will expand on its initial three-store Houston pilot program and open additional locations in Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, southern New Jersey and Tampa, Florida.
• HealthHUBs devote about 20% of retail space to health services, focusing on preventive care, wellness activities and education and management of chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, according to the company. 

Healthcare Dive also reports on the first day of federal district court hearings on a consent decree related to CVS Health's acquisition of Aetna last year under the Tunney Act. Today the Court heard from opponents to the merger. Tomorrow the Court will hear from supporters of the merger. The hearing wraps up on Thursday. 

We have entered virgin territory here because this is the first judicial hearing under the Tunney Act, a law which requires the Court to decide whether a consent decree is in the public interest. In the CVS Health acquisition, the Justice Department is seeking a consent decree to require Aetna to spin off its Medicare Part D business -- the spin off to Wellcare has already happened. The Cigna acquisition of Express Scripts avoided the Tunney Act because the Justice Department approved that deal without seeking a consent decree.

Speaking of Wellcare, Healthcare Payer Intelligence informs us that 

Humana broke with company policy to not comment on potential merger and acquisition matters to quell rumors of a possible merger with competitor Centene in a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Louisville-based company stated that it “will not make a proposal to combine with Centene as an alternative to Centene’s proposed transaction with WellCare Health Plans, Inc.” Apparently, the negative impact of speculation on the company’s stock was too much to ignore.

Finally, Healthcare Dive also lets us know that "More than 2,800 comments poured in on two wide-reaching HHS rules to promote interoperability and discourage information blocking in healthcare, with industry groups largely lauding the goal but not the means of achieving it." If at first you don't succeed, etc.