CVS closes healthcare services deal—are more coming?

CVS Health’s dig into healthcare services has officially begun following the closing of the $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health.

Signify Health, which competed with companies like Amazon for the CVS partnership, will continue to be a payer-agnostic business while being a part of the pharmacy retailer. Signify Health is perhaps best known for its home health business.

CVS appears to be just beginning a massive growth spurt in healthcare services. The retailer also wants to purchase Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion, but the move has received negative attention from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Warren wants the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to carefully review upcoming merger deals, but she also wants the agency to break open the seal of already approved transactions.

The senator wrote a letter to the FTC asking for scrutiny over the $10.6 billion deal. Oak Street Health deals primarily with Medicare recipients and has 169 medical centers in 21 states and employs around 600 physicians. CVS believes Oak Street Health would upgrade its primary care space.

Warren, however, is not stopping at the CVS / Oak Street venture. In her letter to the FTC, Warren also wants the agency to take another look at “previous acquisitions of primary and home health care companies by large health insurers and retailers like United, Humana, WBA, Walmart and Amazon.”

Related:Sen. Warren takes aim at CVS / Oak Street deal

"In particular, I fear that the acquisition of thousands of independent providers by a few massive health care megaconglomerates could reduce competition on a local or national basis, hurting patients and increasing health care costs," she said in the letter to the FTC.