Torch passing at CVS – Larry Merlo to Karen S. Lynch

Karen S. Lynch named the next President and CEO of CVS Health and Larry J. Merlo to retire in Spring 2021

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE: CVS) today announced that its Board of Directors appointed Karen S. Lynch, currently Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, Aetna, as the company’s next President and CEO, effective February 1, 2021. Ms. Lynch will also join the company’s Board of Directors upon assuming her new role. Larry J. Merlo will transition from the President and CEO role on February 1, 2021, after beginning his career with the company as a community pharmacist more than 40 years ago, and serving as President and CEO for a decade. Mr. Merlo will continue to serve on CVS Health’s Board of Directors until the company’s next Annual Meeting of Stockholders in May 2021, and as Strategic Advisor to assist with the transition until his retirement on May 31, 2021.

“This leadership transition comes at the right time for CVS Health. This month marks the two year anniversary as one company, with our foundation clearly established and significant positive momentum across the company,” said David W. Dorman, Chair of the Board of CVS Health Corporation. “As Larry has been transparent with us about his overall plans, we were able to put a thorough, multi-year process in place to consider and evaluate internal and external candidates. That process led to the selection of Karen Lynch. Larry’s collaboration with Karen in the coming months will ensure an effective leadership transition.”

“Karen is a seasoned health care expert who knows our business. She brings a relentless focus on the customer, a strong track record of driving growth and innovation, and proven transformational leadership, all of which position her well for success. Our Board of Directors believes that Karen is the right leader to guide CVS Health into its next era of growth as the company continues its transformation,” Mr. Dorman continued.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to succeed Larry and lead CVS Health on the next phase of our important journey to meet America’s health care needs,” said Karen S. Lynch, Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, Aetna. “Never before has our purpose been more critical than during these unprecedented times. Together with the CVS Health leadership team and all of our colleagues, I will work to build on the strong foundation Larry has put in place to continue to make health care more accessible and affordable, driving better health outcomes for our consumers and communities. I am highly confident about our company’s future and look forward to further accelerating the value we bring to all of our stakeholders.”

“On behalf of CVS Health and the Board, I would like to thank Larry for his outstanding leadership and deep commitment to the company. During his tenure, CVS Health has transformed from a regional retail pharmacy into the nation’s leading diversified health services company, with over $250 billion in revenues. Larry led CVS Health’s industry-disrupting acquisition of Aetna in 2018, and strategically positioned the company’s community-based health clinics to provide integrated and holistic health care services to all Americans. In doing so, he created new ways to deliver health care through CVS Health’s unparalleled suite of assets, including a national health insurance plan provider, a pharmacy benefits manager, community-based retail pharmacies and a long-term care pharmacy services business,” said Mr. Dorman. “No discussion of Larry’s tenure would be complete without recognizing his leadership of the company’s bold decision to eliminate the sale of tobacco products from all CVS Pharmacy stores, which was widely credited with being a catalyst for the reduction in smoking levels in the U.S.”

“I am incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to lead CVS Health over the past decade as we pursue our important purpose to help people on their path to better health,” said Larry J. Merlo, President and Chief Executive Officer, CVS Health. “I am grateful to our entire CVS Health team for their dedication and hard work in helping us build a powerful, integrated health services company that will enable us to transform how health care is delivered across the country. Karen has been a key partner to me in our foundational work over the last two years, and her experience and vision will be critical in driving forward CVS Health’s journey of enhancing value for our customers as the nation’s leading health care company for years to come.”

In her current role as Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, Aetna, and with eight years in total at Aetna, Ms. Lynch is responsible for leading the company’s strategy to deliver consumer-focused, high-value health care to the millions of people Aetna serves. She is also responsible for developing diversified enterprise health care solutions that leverage all of CVS Health’s assets. Prior to joining Aetna in 2012, she was President of Magellan Health Services, a diversified health services company, and held various senior executive positions at Cigna.

At CVS Health, Ms. Lynch had a critical leadership role in the company’s integration of Aetna, launching its first suite of transformative products and services, including the Aetna Connected Plan, powered by CVS Health, and Aetna health plans with access to all covered MinuteClinic services at no cost. Under her leadership Medicare Advantage membership grew more than three times the industry average, generating outstanding membership growth of over 30 percent in 2019. Ms. Lynch has also been instrumental in the design of the HealthHUB strategy, incorporating the HealthHUBs’ differentiated suite of services into Aetna’s offerings.

Ms. Lynch is consistently rated as a top innovator and influencer in the health care space and has been named to Business Insider’s Top 100 People Transforming Business for the significant role she plays in transforming businesses through innovative solutions that deliver value to customers and drive growth. From 2016 to 2020, she was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list. Ms. Lynch also serves on the Board of U.S. Bancorp and is the Chair of its Audit Committee.

About Larry J. Merlo – President & Chief Executive Officer, CVS Health

Larry Merlo is President and Chief Executive Officer of CVS Health, a Fortune 5 company and the nation’s premier health innovation company helping people on their path to better health. The company touches more than 100 million people each year through its unique combination of assets, including approximately 9,900 retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 102 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year and expanding specialty pharmacy services. CVS Health also serves an estimated 34 million people through traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including expanding Medicare Advantage offerings and a leading stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.

Under Merlo’s leadership, CVS Health is executing a strategy to become the most consumer-centric health company by meeting people where they are — whether that’s in the community, in the home, or in the palm of their hand. As part of the company’s deep commitment to public health, in 2014 it announced the landmark decision to be the first major retail pharmacy to eliminate tobacco sales in all of its stores. To reflect its broader health care commitment, the company subsequently changed its corporate name to CVS Health.

Merlo, a pharmacist by education, joined CVS Pharmacy in 1990 through the company’s acquisition of Peoples Drug. Prior to assuming the role of President and CEO in 2011, Merlo held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently President of CVS Pharmacy. Under his leadership, the company completed some of the most successful acquisitions in the history of retail pharmacy and delivered significant organic growth in major markets across the country.

Merlo currently serves on the Board of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Business Roundtable Executive Committee.

He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.

Karen S. Lynch – Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, Aetna

Karen S. Lynch is Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President of Aetna. She is responsible for driving the CVS Health strategy to deliver consumer-focused, high-value health care to the millions of people Aetna serves. In March 2020, she assumed leadership of CVS Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, working across the company to support the health and safety of colleagues and increase access to care for customers and members.

Ms. Lynch has over three decades of experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining CVS Health, she held executive positions at Cigna and Magellan Health Services, where she served as president. Ms. Lynch began her career with Ernst & Young as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

In 2019, Ms. Lynch was named to Business Insider’s Top 100 People Transforming Business, highlighting the significant role she plays in the transformation happening throughout the health care industry. For the last five years (2016 to 2020), she was named to Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She was also recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2019 and as one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare in 2017 and 2019.

She has also been recognized for her leadership by numerous organizations and publications, including the National Association for Specialty Health Organizations, Business Insurance, the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, and Insurance Networking News. She also co-chaired the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Task Force for the Wall Street Journal Women in the Economy Conference.

Ms. Lynch serves on the board of U.S. Bancorp as Chair of their Audit Committee. She is a trustee of The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, an advisory board member of IBM Watson Health and a member of the Global 50 and the Boston College Women’s Council. Her professional associations include serving as a member of the Healthcare Leadership Council, East Coast CEO Alliance and the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) Leadership CEO Group. She is also an advisory board member of NEADS/Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans, a nonprofit organization that provides independence to people through canine assistance.

Ms. Lynch is a graduate of Boston College and The Questrom School of Business at Boston University. In 2015, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts.

To learn more about Ms. Lynch, follow her on Twitter @KarenSLynch and on LinkedIn.

About CVS Health

CVS Health is a different kind of health care company. We are a diversified health services company with nearly 300,000 employees united around a common purpose of helping people on their path to better health. In an increasingly connected and digital world, we are meeting people wherever they are and changing health care to meet their needs. Built on a foundation of unmatched community presence, our diversified model engages one in three Americans each year. From our innovative new services at HealthHUB locations, to transformative programs that help manage chronic conditions, we are making health care more accessible, more affordable and simply better. Learn more about how we’re transforming health at www.cvshealth.com.