CVS Health adds new board members, shifts execs in Aetna deal closure

Amy Baxter | | Health Exec | Management

Three Aetna directors will join CVS Health’s board of directors following completion of the $69 billion merger between the two companies.

The Department of Justice cleared the transaction, which was announced late last year, on Wednesday on the condition that Aetna divest its Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business. Aetna, which will be managed as a distinct operating entity within CVS Health,  announced it would sell its Part D business to Wellcare Health Plans last month.

Edward J. Ludwig, Fernando Aguirre and Roger N. Farah––three directors with “deep insurance company oversight experience”––will join CVS Health’s board. CVS previously announced Aetna’s current chairman and CEO, Mark Bertolini, will join the board.

“We are delighted to welcome Fernando, Mark, Roger and Ed to the CVS Health Board,” David W. Dorman, chairman of CVS Health, said in a statement Wednesday. “Our shareholders will benefit from the depth of their knowledge of Aetna’s business and their complementary expertise, which will be essential to the combined company as we transform the way health care is delivered in America.”

Ludwig has served as lead director of the Aetna board of directors since 2012 after first joining in 2003. Farah joined Aetna’s board in 2007, and Aguirre joined in 2011.

In addition, Eva Boratto, currently the company’s executive vice president, controller and chief accounting officer, will become executive vice president and CFO of CVS Health following the transaction. Current CFO Shan Guertin is stepping aside “for personal and family reasons,” according to CVS, though he will remain active through June 2019 to help with integration and financial planning strategy.

Boratto joined CVS in 2010 as senior vice president of PBM finance before serving in her current role. Prior to joining CVS, she led financial oversight of Merck’s U.S. pharmaceutical market as vice president, U.S. market finance leader at Merck & Co., and was vice president of investor relations.

Amy Baxter
Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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