Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CVS To Use $1.5B Windfall From GOP Tax Plan To Raise Hourly Wages For Workers
The Associated Press: CVS Health Eyes Data, Wage Boosts With $1.5B Tax Benefit
CVS Health's fourth-quarter earnings nearly doubled, fueled by a $1.5 billion tax benefit that will help the drugstore chain expand its growing role in customer care. The company said Thursday that it will use the break it gets from the recently completed federal tax overhaul to raise starting pay for its hourly workers and pare debt ahead of its planned, $69 billion acquisition of the insurer Aetna. (Murphy, 2/8)
The Wall Street Journal: CVS To Raise Starting Pay To $11 An Hour
CVS Health Corp. said it will use some of the extra cash from the U.S. tax overhaul to raise its starting hourly pay to $11 for U.S. workers, the latest company to announce employee perks in the wake of the legislation. The company, with 240,000 U.S. workers, currently pays a starting wage of $9 an hour, though many employees make more. It said that in addition to raising the minimum, it will increase pay for lower-wage retail workers at its nearly 10,000 U.S. stores. CVS didn’t provide an average increase. (Terlep, 2/8)
The Hill: CVS Boosts Hourly Starting Pay To $11 After Tax Cut
CVS Health announced Thursday it would boost starting wages for employees and increase other benefits, citing tax-reform legislation that gave the company a $1.5 billion tax break. Effective April 2018, the starting wage for hourly employees will increase to $11 an hour from $9 an hour. (Hellmann, 2/8)
Reuters: CVS Says Aetna Acquisition Still Expected In 2018
CVS Health Corp on Thursday said that a request for more information from U.S. antitrust regulators reviewing its proposed $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna Inc does not impact its expectation that the deal will close in the second half of 2018. (2/8)
