cvs-20201231

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________ to_________

Commission file number: 001-01011

CVS HEALTH CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware			05-0494040
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)			(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)


One CVS Drive,	Woonsocket,	Rhode Island	02895
(Address of principal executive offices)			(Zip Code)


Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:			(401)			765-1500


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share	CVS	New York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:		None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

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Yes

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

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Yes

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

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Yes

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

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Yes

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

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Accelerated filer

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Non-accelerated filer

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Smaller reporting company

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Emerging growth company

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

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Yes

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The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $84,719,366,378 as of June 30, 2020, based on the closing price of the common stock on the New York Stock Exchange. For purposes of this calculation, only executive officers and directors are deemed to be affiliates of the registrant.

As of February 8, 2021, the registrant had 1,311,354,926 shares of common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The following materials are incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K:

Information contained in the definitive proxy statement for CVS Health Corporation’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 (the “Proxy Statement”), is incorporated by reference in Parts III and IV to the extent described therein.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page

Part I
Item 1:	Business	2
Item 1A:	Risk Factors	32
Item 1B:	Unresolved Staff Comments	61
Item 2:	Properties	61
Item 3:	Legal Proceedings	61
Item 4:	Mine Safety Disclosures	62
	Information about our Executive Officers	63

Part II
Item 5:	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	64
Item 6:	Reserved	65
Item 7:	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	66
Item 7A:	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	97
Item 8:	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	100
Item 9:	Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	176
Item 9A:	Controls and Procedures	176
Item 9B:	Other Information	177

Part III
Item 10:	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	177
Item 11:	Executive Compensation	177
Item 12:	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	177
Item 13:	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	178
Item 14:	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	178

Part IV
Item 15:	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	179
Item 16:	Form 10-K Summary	183
	Signatures	184

Unless the context otherwise requires, references to the terms “we,” “our” or “us” used throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “10-K”) refer to CVS Health Corporation (a Delaware corporation) (“CVS Health”) and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”). References to competitors and other companies throughout this 10-K, including the information incorporated herein by reference, are for illustrative or comparison purposes only and do not indicate that these companies are the Company’s or any segment’s only competitors or closest competitors.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”) provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements, so long as (1) those statements are identified as forward-looking, and (2) the statements are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements that identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the statement. We want to take advantage of these safe harbor provisions.

Certain information contained in this 10-K is forward-looking within the meaning of the Reform Act or SEC rules. This information includes, but is not limited to: “Outlook for 2021” of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) included in Item 7, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” included in Item 7A, “Government Regulation” included in Item 1, and “Risk Factors” included in Item 1A. In addition, throughout this 10-K and our other reports and communications, we use the following words or variations or negatives of these words and similar expressions when we intend to identify forward-looking statements:

Anticipates

Believes

Can

Continue

Could

Estimates

Evaluate

Expects

Explore

Forecast

Guidance

Intends

Likely

May

Might

Outlook

Plans

Potential

Predict

Probable

Projects

Seeks

Should

View

Will

All statements addressing the future operating performance of CVS Health or any segment or any subsidiary and/or future events or developments, including statements relating to the projected impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) on the Company’s businesses, investment portfolio, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition, statements relating to corporate strategy, statements relating to future revenue, operating income or adjusted operating income, earnings per share or adjusted earnings per share, Pharmacy Services segment business, sales results and/or trends and/or operations, Retail/LTC segment business, sales results and/or trends and/or operations, Health Care Benefits segment business, sales results and/or trends, medical cost trends, medical membership, Medicare Part D membership, medical benefit ratios and/or operations, incremental investment spending, interest expense, effective tax rate, weighted-average share count, cash flow from operations, net capital expenditures, cash available for debt repayment, integration synergies, net synergies, integration costs, enterprise modernization, transformation, leverage ratio, cash available for enhancing shareholder value, inventory reduction, turn rate and/or loss rate, debt ratings, the Company’s ability to attract or retain customers and clients, store development and/or relocations, new product development, and the impact of industry and regulatory developments, as well as statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results or events, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Reform Act.

Forward-looking statements rely on a number of estimates, assumptions and projections concerning future events, and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties and other factors are outside our control. Certain of these risks and uncertainties and other factors are described under “Risk Factors” included in Item 1A of this 10-K; these are not the only risks and uncertainties we face. There can be no assurance that the Company has identified all the risks that affect it. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Company or that the Company currently believes to be immaterial also may adversely affect the Company’s businesses. If any of those risks or uncertainties develops into actual events, those events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s businesses, operating results, cash flows, financial condition and/or stock price, among other effects.

You should not put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this 10-K, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, uncertainties or otherwise.

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1. Business.

Overview

CVS Health Corporation (“CVS Health”), together with its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”), is a diversified health services company 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. The Company has more than 9,900 retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 105 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year and expanding specialty pharmacy services. We also serve 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 standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan (“PDP”). The Company believes its innovative health care model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs.

On November 28, 2018 (the “Aetna Acquisition Date”), the Company acquired Aetna Inc. (“Aetna”). As a result of the acquisition of Aetna (the “Aetna Acquisition”), the Company added the Health Care Benefits segment. Certain aspects of Aetna’s operations, including products for which the Company no longer solicits or accepts new customers, such as large case pensions and long-term care insurance products, are included in the Company’s Corporate/Other segment. The consolidated financial statements reflect Aetna’s results subsequent to the Aetna Acquisition Date.

The Company has four reportable segments: Pharmacy Services, Retail/LTC, Health Care Benefits and Corporate/Other.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the economies of the U.S. and other countries around the world. Beginning in March 2020, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to emerge in the U.S. The Company executed preparedness plans to maintain continuity of its operations, including transitioning many office-based colleagues to a remote work environment and installing protective equipment in our retail pharmacies. The Company also provided enhanced benefits to its colleagues, including bonuses to frontline colleagues, dependent care financial assistance, paid sick leave for part-time colleagues and paid time off to colleagues who test positive or are quarantined due to exposure to COVID-19.

Our strong local presence and scale in communities across the country enabled us to play an indispensable role in the national response to COVID-19, as well as provide seamless support for our customers wherever they needed us: in our CVS locations, in their homes, and virtually. The Company offered COVID-19 diagnostic testing at more than 4,000 CVS Pharmacy® locations as of December 31, 2020 and launched critical diagnostic testing for the vulnerable senior population in long-term care facilities in partnership with three states. The Company was also selected to administer COVID-19 vaccines in both long-term care facilities and its retail pharmacies. The Company began administering COVID-19 vaccinations in long-term care facilities and in certain of its retail pharmacies during December 2020 and February 2021, respectively, and expects to play a significant role in COVID-19 vaccine administration in the future. In the Health Care Benefits segment, the Company also expanded benefit coverage to its members, including cost-sharing waivers for COVID-19 related treatments, as well as assistance to members through premium credits, telehealth cost-sharing waivers and other investments.

The impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s businesses, operating results, cash flows and financial condition in the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as information regarding certain expected impacts of COVID-19 on the Company, is discussed throughout this 10-K.

Pharmacy Services Segment

The Pharmacy Services segment provides a full range of pharmacy benefit management (“PBM”) solutions, including plan design offerings and administration, formulary management, retail pharmacy network management services, mail order pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and infusion services, clinical services, disease management services and medical spend management. The Pharmacy Services segment’s clients are primarily employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, health plans, PDPs, Medicaid managed care (“Managed Medicaid”) plans, plans offered on public health insurance exchanges (“Public Exchanges”) and private health insurance exchanges (“Private Exchanges” and together with Public Exchanges, “Insurance Exchanges”) and other sponsors of health benefit plans throughout the United States. The

Pharmacy Services segment includes retail specialty pharmacy stores, specialty mail order pharmacies, mail order dispensing pharmacies, compounding pharmacies and branches for infusion and enteral nutrition services. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company’s PBM filled or managed 2.1 billion prescriptions on a 30-day equivalent basis.

PBM Services

The Company dispenses prescription drugs directly through its mail order dispensing and specialty mail order pharmacies and through pharmacies in its retail network. All prescriptions processed by the Company are analyzed, processed and documented by the Company’s proprietary prescription management systems. These systems provide essential features and functionality to allow plan members to utilize their prescription drug benefits. These systems also streamline the process by which prescriptions are processed by staff and network pharmacists by enhancing review of various items through automation, including plan eligibility, early refills, duplicate dispensing, appropriateness of dosage, drug interactions or allergies, over-utilization and potential fraud.

Plan Design Offerings and Administration

The Company administers pharmacy benefit plans for clients who contract with it to facilitate prescription drug coverage and claims processing for their eligible plan members. The Company assists its PBM clients in designing pharmacy benefit plans that help improve health outcomes while minimizing the costs to the client. The Company also assists PBM clients in monitoring the effectiveness of their plans through frequent, informal communications, the use of proprietary software, as well as through formal annual, quarterly and sometimes monthly performance reviews.

The Company makes recommendations to help PBM clients design benefit plans that promote the use of lower cost, clinically appropriate drugs and helps its PBM clients control costs by recommending plan designs that encourage the use of generic equivalents of brand name drugs when such equivalents are available. Clients also have the option, through plan design, to further lower their pharmacy benefit plan costs by setting different member payment levels for different products on their drug lists or “formularies,” which helps guide members to choose lower cost alternatives through appropriate financial incentives.

Formulary Management

The Company utilizes an independent panel of doctors, pharmacists and other medical experts, referred to as the CVS Caremark National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, to review and approve the selection of drugs that meet the Company’s standards of safety and efficacy for inclusion on one of the Company’s template formularies. The Company’s formularies provide recommended products in numerous drug classes to help ensure member access to clinically appropriate drugs with alternatives within a class under the client’s pharmacy benefit plan, while helping to drive the lowest net cost for clients that select one of the Company’s formularies. To help improve clinical outcomes for members and clients, the Company conducts ongoing, independent reviews of all drugs, including those appearing on the formularies and generic equivalent products. Many of the Company’s clients choose to adopt a template formulary offering as part of their plan design. PBM clients are given capabilities to offer real time benefits information for a member’s specific plan design, provided digitally at the point of prescribing, at the pharmacy and directly to members.

Retail Pharmacy Network Management Services

The Company maintains a national network of approximately 66,000 retail pharmacies, consisting of approximately 40,000 chain pharmacies (which includes CVS Pharmacy locations) and approximately 26,000 independent pharmacies, in the United States, including Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. When a customer fills a prescription in a retail pharmacy, the pharmacy sends prescription data electronically to the Company from the point-of-sale. This data interfaces with the Company’s proprietary prescription management systems, which verify relevant plan member data and eligibility, while also performing a drug utilization review to help evaluate clinical appropriateness and safety and confirming that the pharmacy will receive payment for the prescription. The Company also offers a performance program for non-Medicare customers, which can be implemented with either the Company’s broad, national network or with any managed network (as allowed by applicable laws and regulations). Under the program, high performing pharmacies are eligible to receive an incremental positive performance payment. The program aligns with key Healthcare Effectiveness Data Information Set measures utilized by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and is funded by client fees.

Mail Order Pharmacy Services

The Pharmacy Services segment operates mail order dispensing pharmacies in the United States. Plan members or their prescribers submit prescriptions or refill requests, primarily for maintenance medications, to these pharmacies, and staff pharmacists review these prescriptions and refill requests with the assistance of the Company’s prescription management systems. This review may involve communications with the prescriber and, with the prescriber’s approval when required, can result in generic substitution, therapeutic interchange or other actions designed to help reduce cost and/or improve quality of

treatment. The Company’s mail order dispensing pharmacies have been awarded Mail Service Pharmacy accreditation from URAC, a health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

Specialty Pharmacy and Infusion Services

The Pharmacy Services segment operates specialty mail order pharmacies, retail specialty pharmacy stores and branches for infusion and enteral nutrition services in the United States. The specialty mail order pharmacies are used for delivery of advanced medications to individuals with chronic or genetic diseases and disorders. The Company’s specialty mail order pharmacies also have been awarded Specialty Pharmacy accreditation from URAC. Substantially all of the Company’s specialty mail order pharmacies also have been accredited by The Joint Commission, which is an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies health care programs and organizations in the United States.

Clinical Services

The Company offers multiple clinical programs and services to help clients manage overall pharmacy and health care costs in a clinically appropriate manner. These programs are primarily designed to promote better health outcomes and to help target inappropriate medication utilization and non-adherence to medication, each of which may result in adverse medical events that negatively affect member health and client pharmacy and medical spend. These programs include utilization management (“UM”), medication management, quality assurance, adherence and counseling programs to complement the client’s plan design and clinical strategies. To help address prescription opioid abuse and misuse, the Company introduced an industry-leading UM approach that limits to seven days the supply of opioids dispensed for certain acute prescriptions for patients who are new to therapy, limits the daily dosage of opioids dispensed based on the strength of the opioid and requires the use of immediate-release formulations of opioids before extended-release opioids are dispensed. The Company’s Pharmacy Advisor® program facilitates pharmacist counseling, both face-to-face and over the telephone, to help participating plan members with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, to identify gaps in care, adhere to their prescribed medications and manage their health conditions. The Company also has digital connectivity that helps to lower drug costs for patients by providing expanded visibility to lower cost alternatives through enhanced analytics and data sharing.

Disease Management Programs

The Company’s clinical programs and services utilize advanced protocols and offer clients convenience in working with health care providers (“providers”) and other third parties. The Company’s UM program covers diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, seizure disorders and multiple sclerosis and is accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (“NCQA”), a private, not-for-profit organization that evaluates, accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations.

Medical Benefit Management

The Company’s NovoLogix® online preauthorization tool helps identify and capture cost savings opportunities for specialty drugs billed under the medical benefit by identifying outliers to appropriate dosages and costs, and helps to ensure clinically appropriate use of specialty drugs.

Group Purchasing Organization Services

The Company operates a group purchasing organization that negotiates pricing for the purchase of pharmaceuticals and rebates with pharmaceutical manufacturers on behalf of its participants. The Company also provides various administrative, management and reporting services to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Pharmacy Services Information Systems

The Pharmacy Services segment’s claim adjudication platform incorporates architecture that centralizes the data generated from filling mail order prescriptions, adjudicating retail pharmacy claims and delivering other solutions to PBM clients. The Health Engagement Engine® technology and proprietary clinical algorithms help connect the various parts of the enterprise and serve an essential role in cost management and health improvement, leveraging cloud-native technologies and practices. This capability transforms pharmacy data into actionable interventions at key points of care, including in retail, mail and specialty pharmacies as well as in customer care call center operations, leveraging our enterprise data platform to improve the quality of care. The technology leverages assisted artificial intelligence to deliver insights to the business and bring automation to otherwise manual tasks. Specialty services also connects with our claim adjudication platform and various health plan adjudication platforms with a centralized architecture servicing many clients and members. Operating services, such as Specialty Expedite®, provide an interconnected onboarding solution for specialty medications and branding solutions ranging from fulfillment to total patient management. These services are managed through our new innovative specialty workflow and web platform.

Pharmacy Services Clients

The Company’s Pharmacy Services clients are primarily employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, health plans, Medicare Part D plans, Managed Medicaid plans and plans offered on Insurance Exchanges and other sponsors of health benefit plans throughout the United States. Pharmaceuticals are provided to eligible members in benefit plans maintained by clients and utilize the Company’s information systems, among other things, to help perform safety checks, drug interaction screening and identify opportunities for generic substitution. Substantially all of the Pharmacy Services segment’s revenues are generated from dispensing and managing prescription drugs to eligible members in benefit plans maintained by clients. In 2018, revenues from Aetna accounted for approximately 9.8% of the Company’s consolidated total revenues. On the Aetna Acquisition Date, Aetna became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CVS Health. Subsequent to the Aetna Acquisition Date, revenues from Aetna continue to be reported in the Pharmacy Services segment; however, these revenues are eliminated in the consolidated financial statements.

Pharmacy Services Seasonality

The majority of Pharmacy Services segment revenues are not seasonal in nature.

Pharmacy Services Competition

The Company believes the primary competitive factors in the pharmacy services industry include: (i) the ability to negotiate favorable discounts from drug manufacturers as well as to negotiate favorable discounts from, and access to, retail pharmacy networks; (ii) the ability to identify and apply effective cost management programs utilizing clinical strategies, including the development and utilization of preferred formularies; (iii) the ability to market PBM products and services; (iv) the commitment to provide flexible, clinically-oriented services to clients and be responsive to clients’ needs; (v) the quality, scope and costs of products and services offered to clients and their members; and (vi) operational excellence in delivering services. The Pharmacy Services segment has a significant number of competitors offering PBM services, including large, national PBM companies (e.g., Prime Therapeutics and MedImpact), PBMs owned by large national health plans (e.g., the Express Scripts business of Cigna Corporation and the OptumRx business of UnitedHealth) and smaller standalone PBMs.

Retail/LTC Segment

The Retail/LTC segment sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of health and wellness products and general merchandise, provides health care services through its MinuteClinic® walk-in medical clinics, provides medical diagnostic testing, administers vaccinations for illnesses such as influenza, COVID-19 and shingles and conducts long-term care pharmacy (“LTC”) operations, which distribute prescription drugs and provide related pharmacy consulting and other ancillary services to chronic care facilities and other care settings. As of December 31, 2020, the Retail/LTC segment operated more than 9,900 retail locations, approximately 1,100 MinuteClinic locations as well as online retail pharmacy websites, LTC pharmacies and on-site pharmacies. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Retail/LTC segment filled 1.5 billion prescriptions on a 30-day equivalent basis. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company dispensed approximately 27.1% of the total retail pharmacy prescriptions in the United States.

Retail/LTC Products and Services

A typical retail store sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of high-quality, nationally advertised brand name and proprietary brand merchandise. Front store categories include over-the-counter drugs, consumer health products, beauty products and personal care products. LTC operations include distribution of prescription drugs and related consulting and ancillary services. The Company purchases merchandise from numerous manufacturers and distributors. The Company believes that competitive sources are readily available for substantially all of the products carried in its retail stores and the loss of any one supplier would not likely have a material effect on the Retail/LTC segment. The Company’s MinuteClinic locations offer a variety of health care services.

Retail/LTC revenues by major product group are as follows:


	Percentage of Revenues
	2020		2019		2018
Pharmacy (1)	76.9	%	76.7	%	76.4	%
Front store and other (2)	23.1	%	23.3	%	23.6	%
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%

_____________________________________________

(1)Pharmacy includes LTC sales and sales in pharmacies within Target Corporation (“Target”) and other retail stores.

(2)“Other” represents less than 10% of the “Front store and other” revenue category.

Pharmacy

Pharmacy revenues represented approximately three-fourths of Retail/LTC segment revenues in each of 2020, 2019 and 2018. The Company believes that retail pharmacy operations will continue to represent a critical part of the Company’s business due to industry demographics, e.g., an aging American population consuming a greater number of prescription drugs, prescription drugs being used more often as the first line of defense for managing illness, the introduction of new pharmaceutical products, the need for vaccinations and Medicare Part D growth. The Company believes the retail pharmacy business benefits from investment in both people and technology, as well as innovative collaborations with health plans, PBMs and providers. Given the nature of prescriptions, consumers want their prescriptions filled accurately by professional pharmacists using the latest tools and technology, and ready when promised. Consumers also need medication management programs and better information to help them get the most out of their health care dollars. To assist consumers with these needs, the Company has introduced integrated pharmacy health care services that provide an earlier, easier and more effective approach to engaging consumers in behaviors that can help lower costs, improve health and save lives.

Front Store

Front store revenues reflect the Company’s strategy of innovating with new and unique products and services, using innovative personalized marketing and adjusting the mix of merchandise to match customers’ needs and preferences. A key component of the front store strategy is the ExtraCare® card program, which is one of the largest and most successful retail loyalty programs in the United States. The ExtraCare program allows the Company to balance marketing efforts so it can reward its best customers by providing them with automatic sale prices, customized coupons, ExtraBucks® rewards and other benefits. The Company also offers a subscription-based membership program, CarePass®, under which members are entitled to a suite of benefits delivered over the course of the subscription period, as well as a promotional reward that can be redeemed for future goods and services. The Company continues to launch and enhance new and exclusive brands to create unmatched offerings in beauty products and deliver other unique product offerings, including a full range of high-quality CVS Health® and other proprietary brand products that are only available through CVS stores. The Company currently carries approximately 6,000 CVS Health and proprietary brand products, which accounted for approximately 24% of front store revenues during 2020.

MinuteClinic

As of December 31, 2020, the Company operated approximately 1,100 MinuteClinic locations in the United States. The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who utilize nationally established guidelines to deliver a variety of health care services. Payors value these clinics because they provide convenient, high-quality, cost-effective care, in many cases offering an attractive alternative to more expensive sites of care. MinuteClinic is collaborating with the Pharmacy Services and Health Care Benefits segments to help meet the needs of CVS Caremark’s client plan members and the Company’s health plan members by offering programs that can improve member health and lower costs. MinuteClinic also maintains relationships with leading hospitals, clinics and physicians in the communities we serve to support and enhance quality, access and continuity of care.

On-site Pharmacies

The Company also operates a limited number of pharmacies located at client sites, which provide certain health plan members and customers with a convenient alternative for filling their prescriptions.

Medical Diagnostic Testing

The Company provides medical diagnostic testing primarily through its COVID-19 testing sites located at CVS Pharmacy locations as well as in long-term care facilities, at community-based testing sites in underserved areas, large-scale rapid test sites in select states, and through its Return ReadySM solution.

Long-term Care Pharmacy Operations

The Retail/LTC segment provides LTC pharmacy services through the Omnicare® business. Omnicare’s customers consist of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, independent living communities, hospitals, correctional facilities, and other health care service providers. The Company provides pharmacy consulting, including monthly patient drug therapy evaluations, to assist in compliance with state and federal regulations and provide proprietary clinical and health management programs. It also provides pharmaceutical case management services for retirees, employees and dependents who have drug benefits under corporate-sponsored health care programs.

Community Location Development

The addition of new community locations has played, and will continue to play, a key role in the Company’s continued growth and success. The Company’s community location development program focuses on three areas: entering new service areas, adding locations within existing service areas and relocating to more convenient sites. During 2020, the Company opened approximately 55 new community locations, relocated approximately 20 locations, converted approximately 600 locations into HealthHUB® locations and closed approximately 90 locations.

The Company operated over 650 HealthHUB locations as of December 31, 2020. HealthHUBs have a redesigned format that provide enhanced services, offer a care concierge and focus on health and wellness products. HealthHUBs are designed to meet consumer needs and improve the customer experience by providing care that complements physician practices and hospital systems, enabling improved health outcomes and reducing overall health care costs. The Company expects to continue HealthHUB conversions through 2021 and into 2022.

During the last five years, the Company opened approximately 640 new and relocated retail pharmacies, and acquired approximately 225 locations. The Company believes that continuing to assess the appropriateness of its national footprint and identifying more accessible locations are essential components of competing effectively in the current health care environment. As a result, the Company believes that its community location development program is an integral part of its ability to meet the needs of customers and maintain its leadership position in the pharmacy marketplace given the changing health care landscape.

Retail/LTC Information Systems

The Company has continued to invest in information systems to enable it to deliver exceptional customer service, enhance safety and quality, and expand patient care services while lowering operating costs. The proprietary WeCARE Workflow tool supports pharmacy teams by prioritizing work to meet customer expectations, facilitating prescriber outreach, and seamlessly integrating clinical programs. This solution delivers improved efficiency and enhances customer experience, as well as provides a framework to accommodate the evolution of pharmacy practice and the expansion of clinical programs. Our Health Engagement Engine technology and data science clinical algorithms enable the Company to help identify opportunities for pharmacists to deliver face-to-face counseling regarding patient health and safety matters, including medication adherence issues, gaps in care and management of certain chronic health conditions. The Company’s digital strategy is to empower the consumer to navigate their pharmacy experience and manage their condition through integrated online and mobile solutions that offer utility and convenience. The Company’s LTC digital technology suite, Omniview®, improves the efficiency of customers’ operations with tools that include executive dashboards, pre-admission pricing, electronic ordering of prescription refills, proof-of-delivery tracking, access to patient profiles, receipt and management of facility bills, and real-time validation of Medicare Part D coverage, among other capabilities.

Retail/LTC Customers

The success of the Retail/LTC segment’s businesses is dependent upon the Company’s ability to establish and maintain contractual relationships with pharmacy benefit managers and other payors on acceptable terms. Substantially all of the Retail/LTC segment’s pharmacy revenues are derived from pharmacy benefit managers, managed care organizations (“MCOs”), government funded health care programs, commercial employers and other third-party payors. No single Retail/LTC payor accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s consolidated total revenues in 2020, 2019 or 2018.

Retail/LTC Seasonality

The majority of Retail/LTC segment revenues, particularly pharmacy revenues, generally are not seasonal in nature. However, front store revenues tend to be higher during the December holiday season. In addition, both pharmacy and front store revenues are affected by the timing and severity of the cough, cold and flu season. Uncharacteristic or extreme weather conditions also can adversely affect consumer shopping patterns and Retail/LTC revenues, expenses and operating results.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the quarterly earnings progression was also impacted by COVID-19. During March 2020, the Company experienced greater use of 90-day prescriptions, early refills of maintenance medications and increased front store volume as consumers prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequent to March 2020, the Company experienced reduced customer traffic in its retail pharmacies and MinuteClinic locations due to shelter-in-place orders as well as reduced new therapy prescriptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in the third quarter, the Company saw an increase in diagnostic testing related to the COVID-19 pandemic and in December 2020, the Company began administering COVID-19 vaccinations in long-term care facilities.

Retail/LTC Competition

The retail pharmacy business is highly competitive. The Company believes that it competes principally on the basis of: (i) store location and convenience, (ii) customer service and satisfaction, (iii) product selection and variety, and (iv) price. In the areas it serves, the Company competes with other drugstore chains (e.g., Walgreens and Rite Aid), supermarkets, discount retailers (e.g., Walmart), independent pharmacies, restrictive pharmacy networks, membership clubs, internet companies (e.g., Amazon), and retail health clinics (including urgent care centers), as well as mail order dispensing pharmacies.

LTC pharmacy services are highly regional or local in nature, and within a given geographic area of operation, highly competitive. The Company’s largest LTC pharmacy competitor nationally is PharMerica. The Company also competes with numerous local and regional institutional pharmacies, pharmacies owned by long-term care facilities and local retail pharmacies. Some states have enacted “freedom of choice” or “any willing provider” requirements as part of their state Medicaid programs or in separate legislation, which may increase the competition that the Company faces in providing services to long-term care facility residents in these states.

Health Care Benefits Segment

The Health Care Benefits segment is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits providers, serving an estimated 34 million people as of December 31, 2020. The Health Care Benefits segment has the information and resources to help members, in consultation with their health care professionals, make more informed decisions about their health care. The Health Care Benefits segment offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, PDPs, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology (“HIT”) products and services. The Health Care Benefits segment also provided workers’ compensation administrative services through its Coventry Health Care Workers’ Compensation business (“Workers’ Compensation business”) prior to the sale of this business on July 31, 2020. The Health Care Benefits segment’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers (“providers”), governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For periods prior to the Aetna Acquisition Date, the Health Care Benefits segment was comprised only of the Company’s SilverScript® PDP business.

Health Care Benefits Products and Services

The Company refers to insurance products (where it assumes all or a majority of the risk for medical and dental care costs) as “Insured” and administrative services contract products (where the plan sponsor assumes all or a majority of the risk of medical and dental care costs) as “ASC.” Health Care Benefits products and services consist of the following:

•Commercial Medical: The Health Care Benefits segment offers point-of-service (“POS”), preferred provider organization (“PPO”), health maintenance organization (“HMO”) and indemnity benefit (“Indemnity”) plans. Commercial medical products also include health savings accounts (“HSAs”) and consumer-directed health plans that combine traditional POS or PPO and/or dental coverage, subject to a deductible, with an accumulating benefit account (which may be funded by the plan sponsor and/or the member in the case of HSAs). Principal products and services are targeted specifically to large multi-site national, mid-sized and small employers, individual insureds and expatriates. The Company offers medical stop loss insurance coverage for certain employers who elect to self-insure their health benefits. Under medical stop loss insurance products, the Company assumes risk for costs associated with large individual claims and/or aggregate loss experience within an employer’s plan above a pre-set annual threshold.

•Government Medical: In select geographies, the Health Care Benefits segment offers Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Supplement plans and prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries; participates in Medicaid and subsidized Children’s Health Insurance Programs (“CHIP”); and participates in demonstration projects for members who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid (“Duals”). These Government Medical products are further described below:

•Medicare Advantage: Through annual contracts with CMS, the Company offers HMO and PPO products for eligible individuals in certain geographic areas through the Medicare Advantage program. Members typically receive enhanced benefits over traditional fee-for-service Medicare coverage (“Original Medicare”), including reduced cost-sharing for preventive care, vision and other services. The Company offered network-based HMO and/or PPO plans in 45 states and Washington, D.C. in 2020. The Company has expanded to 46 states and Washington, D.C. for 2021. For certain qualifying employer groups, the Company offers Medicare PPO products nationally. When combined with the Company’s PDP product, these national PPO plans form an integrated national Insured Medicare product for employers that provides medical and pharmacy benefits.

•Medicare PDP: The Company is a national provider of drug benefits under the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. All Medicare eligible individuals are eligible to participate in this voluntary prescription drug plan. Members typically receive coverage for certain prescription drugs, usually subject to a deductible, co-insurance and/or co-payment. On November 30, 2018, the Company completed the sale of Aetna’s standalone PDPs to WellCare Health Plans, Inc. effective December 31, 2018. The Company provided administrative services to, and retained the financial results of, the divested plans through 2019. Subsequent to 2019, the Company no longer retains the financial results of the divested plans.

•Medicare Supplement: For certain Medicare eligible members, the Company offers supplemental coverage for certain health care costs not covered by Original Medicare. The products included in the Medicare Supplement portfolio help to cover some of the gaps in Original Medicare, and include coverage for Medicare deductibles and coinsurance amounts. The Company offered a wide selection of Medicare Supplement products in 49 states and Washington, D.C. in 2020.

•Medicaid and CHIP: The Company offers health care management services to individuals eligible for Medicaid and CHIP under multi-year contracts with government agencies in various states that are subject to annual appropriations. CHIP are state-subsidized insurance programs that provide benefits for families with uninsured children. The Company offered these services on an Insured or ASC basis in 16 states in 2020.

•Duals: The Company provides health coverage to beneficiaries who are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage. These members must meet certain income and resource requirements in order to qualify for this coverage. The Company coordinates 100% of the care for these members and may provide them with additional services in order to manage their health care costs.

•Specialty and Strategic Solutions: The Health Care Benefits segment has a portfolio of additional health products and services that complement its medical products such as dental plans, behavioral health and employee assistance products, provider network access and vision products. The Company also has a portfolio of transformative products and services aimed at creating a holistic and integrated approach to individual health and wellness. These products and services complement the Commercial Medical and Government Medical products and aim to provide innovative solutions, create integrated experience offerings and enable enhanced care delivery to customers.

Health Care Benefits Provider Networks

The Company contracts with physicians, hospitals and other providers for services they provide to the Company’s members. The Company uses a variety of techniques designed to help encourage appropriate utilization of medical services (“utilization”) and maintain affordability of quality coverage. In addition to contracts with providers for negotiated rates of reimbursement, these techniques include creating risk sharing arrangements that align economic incentives with providers, the development and implementation of guidelines for the appropriate utilization and the provision of data to providers to enable them to improve health care quality. At December 31, 2020, the Company’s underlying nationwide provider network had approximately 1.4 million participating providers. Other providers in the Company’s provider networks also include laboratory, imaging, urgent care and other freestanding health facilities.

Health Care Benefits Quality Assessment

CMS uses a 5-star rating system to monitor Medicare health care and drug plans and ensure that they meet CMS’s quality standards. CMS uses this rating system to provide Medicare beneficiaries with a tool that they can use to compare the overall quality of care and level of customer service of companies that provide Medicare health care and drug plans. The rating system considers a variety of measures adopted by CMS, including quality of preventative services, chronic illness management and overall customer satisfaction. See “Health Care Benefits Pricing” below in this Item 1 for further discussion of star ratings. The Company seeks Health Plan accreditation for Aetna HMO plans from the NCQA. Health care plans seeking accreditation must pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance.

Aetna Life Insurance Company (“ALIC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has received nationwide NCQA PPO Health Plan accreditation. As of December 31, 2020, all of the Company’s Commercial HMO and all of ALIC’s PPO members who were eligible participated in HMOs or PPOs that are accredited by the NCQA.

The Company’s provider selection and credentialing/re-credentialing policies and procedures are consistent with NCQA and URAC, as well as state and federal, requirements. In addition, the Company is certified under the NCQA Credentials Verification Organization (“CVO”) certification program for all certification options and has URAC CVO accreditation.

Quality assessment programs for contracted providers who participate in the Company’s networks begin with the initial review of health care practitioners. Practitioners’ licenses and education are verified, and their work history is collected by the Company or in some cases by the practitioner’s affiliated group or organization. The Company generally requires participating hospitals to be certified by CMS or accredited by The Joint Commission, the American Osteopathic Association, or Det Norske Veritas Healthcare.

The Company also offers quality and outcome measurement programs, quality improvement programs, and health care data analysis systems to providers and purchasers of health care services.

Health Care Benefits Information Systems

The Health Care Benefits segment currently operates and supports an end-to-end suite of information technology platforms to support member engagement, enrollment, health benefit administration, care management, service operations, financial reporting and analytics. The multiple platforms are supported by an integration layer to facilitate the transfer of real-time data. There is continued focus and investment in enterprise data platforms, cloud capabilities, digital products to offer innovative solutions and a seamless experience to the Company’s members through mobile and web channels. The Company is making concerted investments in emerging technology capabilities such as voice, artificial intelligence and robotics to further automate, reduce cost and improve the experience for all of its constituents. The Health Care Benefits segment is utilizing the full breadth of the Company’s assets to build enterprise technology that will help guide our members through their health care journey, provide them a high level of service, enable healthier outcomes and encourage them to take next best actions to lead healthier lives.

Health Care Benefits Customers

Medical membership is dispersed throughout the United States, and the Company also serves medical members in certain countries outside the United States. The Company offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, many of which are available nationwide. Depending on the product, the Company markets to a range of customers including employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For additional information on medical membership, see “Health Care Benefits Segment” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (the “MD&A”) included in Item 7 of this 10-K.

The Company markets both Commercial Insured and ASC products and services primarily to employers that sponsor the Company’s products for the benefit of their employees and their employees’ dependents. Frequently, larger employers offer employees a choice among coverage options, from which the employee makes his or her selection during a designated annual open enrollment period. Typically, employers pay all of the monthly premiums to the Company and, through payroll deductions, obtain reimbursement from employees for a percentage of the premiums that is determined by each employer. Some Health Care Benefits products are sold directly to employees of employer groups on a fully employee-funded basis. In some cases, the Company bills the covered individual directly.

The Company offers Insured Medicare coverage on an individual basis as well as through employer groups to their retirees. Medicaid and CHIP members are enrolled on an individual basis. The Company also offers Insured health care coverage to members who are dually-eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

Health Care Benefits products are sold through: the Company’s sales personnel; independent brokers, agents and consultants who assist in the production and servicing of business; and Private Exchanges. For large plan sponsors, independent consultants and brokers are frequently involved in employer health plan selection decisions and sales. In some instances, the Company may pay commissions, fees and other amounts to brokers, agents, consultants and sales representatives who place business with the Company. In certain cases, the customer pays the broker for services rendered, and the Company may facilitate that arrangement by collecting the funds from the customer and transmitting them to the broker. The Company

supports marketing and sales efforts with an advertising program that may include television, radio, billboards, print media and social media, supplemented by market research and direct marketing efforts.

The U.S. federal government is a significant customer of the Health Care Benefits segment through contracts with CMS for coverage of Medicare-eligible individuals and federal employee-related benefit programs. Other than the contracts with CMS, the Health Care Benefits segment is not dependent upon a single customer or a few customers the loss of which would have a significant effect on the earnings of the segment. The loss of business from any one, or a few, independent brokers or agents would not have a material adverse effect on the earnings of the Health Care Benefits segment. In both 2020 and 2019, Health Care Benefits segment revenues from the federal government accounted for 13% of the Company’s consolidated total revenues. Contracts with CMS for coverage of Medicare-eligible individuals in the Health Care Benefits segment accounted for approximately 92% of the Company’s consolidated revenues from the federal government in both 2020 and 2019. No single Health Care Benefits customer accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s consolidated total revenues in 2018.

Health Care Benefits Pricing

For Commercial Insured plans, contracts containing the pricing and other terms of the relationship are generally established in advance of the policy period and typically have a duration of one year. Fees under ASC plans are generally fixed for a period of one year.

Generally, a fixed premium rate is determined at the beginning of the policy period for Commercial Insured plans. The Company typically cannot recover unanticipated increases in health care and other benefit costs in the current policy period; however, it may consider prior experience for a product in the aggregate or for a specific customer, among other factors, in determining premium rates for future policy periods. Where required by state laws, premium rates are filed and approved by state regulators prior to contract inception. Future operating results could be adversely affected if the premium rates requested are not approved or are adjusted downward or their approval is delayed by state or federal regulators.

The Company has Medicare Advantage and PDP contracts with CMS to provide HMO, PPO and prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in certain geographic areas. Under these annual contracts, CMS pays the Company a fixed per member (or “capitation”) payment and/or a portion of the premium, both of which are based on membership and adjusted for demographic and health risk factors. CMS also considers inflation, changes in utilization patterns and average per capita fee-for-service Medicare costs in the calculation of the fixed capitation payment or premium. PDP contracts also provide a risk-sharing arrangement with CMS to limit the Company’s exposure to unfavorable expenses or benefit from favorable expenses. Amounts payable to the Company under the Medicare arrangements are subject to annual revision by CMS, and the Company elects to participate in each Medicare service area or region on an annual basis. Premiums paid to the Company for Medicare products are subject to federal government reviews and audits, which can result, and have resulted, in retroactive and prospective premium adjustments and refunds to the government and/or members. In addition to payments received from CMS, some Medicare Advantage products and all PDP products require a supplemental premium to be paid by the member or sponsoring employer. In some cases these supplemental premiums are adjusted based on the member’s income and asset levels. Compared to Commercial Medical products, Medicare contracts generate higher per member per month revenues and higher health care and other benefit costs.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “ACA”) ties a portion of each Medicare Advantage plan’s reimbursement to the plan’s “star ratings.” Plans must have a star rating of four or higher (out of five) to qualify for bonus payments. CMS released the Company’s 2021 star ratings in October 2020. The Company’s 2021 star ratings will be used to determine which of the Company’s Medicare Advantage plans have ratings of four stars or higher and qualify for bonus payments in 2022. Based on the Company’s membership at December 31, 2020, 83% of the Company’s Medicare Advantage members were in plans with 2021 star ratings of at least 4.0 stars, consistent with 83% of the Company’s Medicare Advantage members being in plans with 2020 star ratings of at least 4.0 stars based on the Company’s membership at December 31, 2019.

Rates for Medicare Supplement products are regulated at the state level and vary by state and plan.

Under Insured Medicaid contracts, state government agencies pay the Company fixed monthly rates per member that vary by state, line of business and demographics; and the Company arranges, pays for and manages the health care services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. These rates are subject to change by each state, and, in some instances, provide for adjustment for health risk factors. CMS requires these rates to be actuarially sound. The Company also receives fees from customers where it provides services under ASC Medicaid contracts. ASC Medicaid contracts generally are for periods of more than one year, and certain of them contain performance incentives and limited financial risk sharing with respect to certain medical, financial

and operational metrics. Under these arrangements, performance is evaluated annually, with associated financial incentive opportunities, and financial risk share obligations are typically limited to a percentage of the fees otherwise payable to the Company. Payments to the Company under Medicaid contracts are subject to the annual appropriation process in the applicable state.

Under Duals contracts, the rate setting process is generally established by CMS in partnership with the state government agency participating in the demonstration project. Both CMS and the state government agency may seek premium and other refunds under certain circumstances, including if the Company fails to comply with CMS regulations or other contractual requirements.

The Company offers HMO and consumer-directed medical and dental plans to federal employees under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (“FEHB”) Program and the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Premium rates and fees for those plans are subject to federal government review and audit, which can result, and have resulted, in retroactive and prospective premium and fee adjustments and refunds to the government and/or members.

Beginning in 2014, the ACA imposed significant new industry-wide fees, assessments and taxes, including an annual levy known as the health insurer fee (the “HIF”). The HIF applies for both 2020 and 2018 and was temporarily suspended for 2019. In December 2019, the HIF was repealed for calendar years after 2020. For additional information on the ACA fees, assessments and taxes, see Note 1 ‘‘Significant Accounting Policies’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K. The Company’s goal is to collect premiums and fees where possible, or solve for, all of the ACA-related fees, assessments and taxes.

Health Care Benefits Seasonality

For periods prior to the Aetna Acquisition Date, the Health Care Benefits segment was comprised only of the Company’s SilverScript PDP business. The quarterly earnings and operating cash flows of the PDP business are impacted by the Medicare Part D benefit design and changes in the composition of PDP membership. The Medicare Part D standard benefit design results in coverage that varies with a member’s cumulative annual out-of-pocket costs. The benefit design generally results in employers or other entities that sponsor the Company’s products (“plan sponsors”) sharing a greater portion of the responsibility for total prescription drug costs in the early part of the year. As a result, the PDP pay percentage or benefit ratio generally decreases and operating income generally increases as the year progresses. For periods subsequent to the Aetna Acquisition, the Health Care Benefits segment’s quarterly operating income progression is also impacted by (i) the seasonality of benefit costs which generally increase during the year as Insured members progress through their annual deductibles and out-of-pocket expense limits and (ii) the seasonality of operating expenses, which are generally the highest during the fourth quarter due primarily to spending to support readiness for the start of the upcoming plan year and marketing associated with Medicare annual enrollment.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the quarterly earnings progression was also impacted by COVID-19. Beginning in mid-March, the health care system experienced a significant reduction in utilization that is discretionary and the cancellation of elective medical procedures. Utilization remained below historical levels through April, began to recover in May and June and reached more normal levels in the third and fourth quarters, with select geographies impacted by COVID-19 waves. The impact of the deferral of non-essential care was partially offset by COVID-19 testing and treatment costs, as well as planned COVID-19 related investments.

Health Care Benefits Competition

The health care benefits industry is highly competitive, primarily due to a large number of for-profit and not-for-profit competitors, competitors’ marketing and pricing and a proliferation of competing products, including new products that are continually being introduced into the marketplace. New entrants into the marketplace, as well as consolidation within the industry, have contributed to and are expected to intensify the competitive environment. In addition, the rapid pace of change as the industry evolves towards a consumer-focused retail marketplace, including Insurance Exchanges, and the increased use of technology to interact with members, providers and customers, increase the risks the Company currently faces from new entrants and disruptive actions by existing competitors compared to prior periods.

The Company believes that the significant factors that distinguish competing health plans include the perceived overall quality (including accreditation status), quality of service, comprehensiveness of coverage, cost (including premium rates, provider discounts and member out-of-pocket costs), product design, financial stability and ratings, breadth and quality of provider networks, ability to offer different provider network options, providers available in such networks, and quality of member support and care management programs. The Company believes that it is competitive on each of these factors. The

Company’s ability to increase the number of persons covered by its health plans or to increase Health Care Benefits segment revenues is affected by its ability to differentiate itself from its competitors on these factors. Competition may also affect the availability of services from providers, including primary care physicians, specialists and hospitals.

Insured products compete with local and regional health care benefits plans, health care benefits and other plans sponsored by other large commercial health care benefit insurance companies, health system owned health plans, new entrants into the marketplace and numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations operating under licenses from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The largest competitor in Medicare products is Original Medicare. Additional Health Care Benefits segment competitors include other types of medical and dental provider organizations, various specialty service providers (including PBM services providers), health care consultants, financial services companies, integrated health care delivery organizations (networks of providers who also coordinate administrative services for and assume insurance risk of their members), third party administrators (“TPAs”), HIT companies and, for certain plans, programs sponsored by the federal or state governments. Emerging competitors include start up health care benefits plans, technology companies, provider-owned health plans, new joint ventures (including not-for-profit joint ventures among firms from multiple industries), technology firms, financial services firms that are distributing competing products on their proprietary Private Exchanges, and consulting firms that are distributing competing products on their proprietary Private Exchanges, as well as non-traditional distributors such as retail companies. The Company’s ability to increase the number of persons enrolled in Insured Commercial Medical products also is affected by the desire and ability of employers to self-fund their health coverage.

The Health Care Benefits segment’s ASC plans compete primarily with other large commercial health care benefit companies, numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations operating under licenses from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and TPAs.

The Health Care Benefits segment’s international products compete with local, global and U.S.-based health plans and commercial health care benefit insurance companies, many of whom are licensed in more geographies and have a longer operating history, better brand recognition and greater marketplace presence in one or more geographies.

The provider solutions and HIT marketplaces and products are evolving rapidly. The Company competes for provider solutions and HIT business with other large health plans and commercial health care benefit insurance companies as well as information technology companies and companies that specialize in provider solutions and HIT. Many information technology product competitors have longer operating histories, better brand recognition, greater marketplace presence and more experience in developing innovative products.

In addition to competitive pressures affecting the Company’s ability to obtain new customers or retain existing customers, the Health Care Benefits segment’s medical membership has been and may continue to be adversely affected by adverse and/or uncertain economic conditions and reductions in workforce by existing customers due to adverse and/or uncertain general economic conditions, especially in the United States and industries where such membership is concentrated.

Health Care Benefits Reinsurance

The Company currently has several reinsurance agreements with non-affiliated insurers that relate to Health Care Benefits insurance policies. The Company entered into these contracts to reduce the risk of catastrophic losses which in turn reduces capital and surplus requirements. The Company frequently evaluates reinsurance opportunities and refines its reinsurance and risk management strategies on a regular basis.

Corporate/Other Segment

The Company presents the remainder of its financial results in the Corporate/Other segment, which primarily consists of:

•Management and administrative expenses to support the Company’s overall operations, which include certain aspects of executive management and the corporate relations, legal, compliance, human resources, information technology and finance departments, expenses associated with the Company’s investments in its transformation and enterprise modernization programs and acquisition-related transaction and integration costs; and

•Products for which the Company no longer solicits or accepts new customers such as large case pensions and long-term care insurance products.

Business Strategy

CVS Health is a different kind of health care company. As a diversified health services company, CVS Health is focused on its purpose of helping people on their path to better health. In an increasingly connected and digital world, the Company is 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. This broad reach differentiates CVS Health and fosters an increased level of engagement with customers across the country. Through our innovative new products and services that help manage chronic conditions, our HealthHUB care destinations, and our digital solutions, we are making health care more accessible, more affordable and simply better. The Company believes its strategy oriented around the consumer and being present for all the meaningful moments in health will drive long-term sustainable value and place the Company at the forefront of the evolution of health care.

Generic Sourcing Venture

The Company and Cardinal Health, Inc. (“Cardinal”) each have a 50% ownership in Red Oak Sourcing, LLC (“Red Oak”), a generic pharmaceutical sourcing entity. Under this arrangement, the Company and Cardinal contributed their sourcing and supply chain expertise to Red Oak and agreed to source and negotiate generic pharmaceutical supply contracts for both companies through Red Oak. Red Oak does not own or hold inventory on behalf of either company.

Working Capital Practices

The Company funds the growth of its businesses through a combination of cash flow from operations, commercial paper and other short-term borrowings, proceeds from sale-leaseback transactions and long-term borrowings. For additional information on the Company’s working capital practices, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in the MD&A included in Item 7 of this 10-K. The majority of the Retail/LTC segment non-pharmacy revenues are paid in cash, or with debit or credit cards. Managed care organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, government funded health care programs, commercial employers and other third party insurance programs, which represent the vast majority of the Company’s consolidated pharmacy revenues, typically settle in less than 30 days. The remainder of the Company’s consolidated pharmacy revenues are paid in cash, or with debit or credit cards. Employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans (with the exception of Medicare Part D services, which are described below), labor groups and expatriates, which represent the vast majority of Health Care Benefits segment revenues, typically settle in less than 30 days. As a provider of Medicare Part D services, the Company contracts annually with CMS. Utilization of services each plan year results in the accumulation of either a receivable from or a payable to CMS. The timing of settlement of the receivable or payable with CMS takes several quarters, which impacts working capital from year to year.

Human Capital

Overview

At CVS Health, we share a single, clear purpose: helping people on their path to better health. We devote significant time and attention to the attraction, development and retention of colleagues to deliver high levels of service to our customers. Our commitment to them includes a competitive rewards package and programs that support our diverse range of colleagues in rewarding and fulfilling careers. As of December 31, 2020, we employed nearly 300,000 colleagues primarily in the United States including in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, approximately 71% of whom were full-time.

We believe engaged colleagues produce stronger business results and are more likely to build a career with the Company. Each year we conduct an internal engagement survey that provides colleagues with an opportunity to share their opinions and experiences with respect to their role, their team and the enterprise to help our Board of Directors (the “Board”) and our management identify areas where we can improve colleague experience. The survey covers a broad range of topics including development and opportunities, diversity management, recognition, performance, well-being, compliance and continuous improvement. In 2020, greater than 80% of our colleagues participated in the engagement survey, of which greater than 80% responded that they were actively engaged.

The Board and our chief executive officer (“CEO”) provide oversight of our human capital strategy, which consists of the following categories: total rewards; diversity, equity and inclusion; colleague development; and health and safety.

Total Rewards

We recognize how vital our colleagues are to our success and strive to offer comprehensive and competitive wages and benefits to meet the varying needs of our colleagues and their families. The benefits and programs include annual bonuses, 401(k) plans, stock awards, an employee stock purchase plan, health care and insurance benefits, paid time off, flexible work schedules, family leave, dependent care resources, colleague assistance programs and tuition assistance, among many others, depending on eligibility.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided enhanced pay and benefits, including bonuses to frontline colleagues, dependent care financial assistance, paid sick leave for part-time colleagues and paid time off to colleagues who test positive or are quarantined due to exposure.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We believe that a diverse workforce creates a healthier, stronger and more sustainable company. We aim to attract, retain and support a diverse workforce that reflects the many customers, patients, members and communities we serve. Our Diversity Management Leadership Council, a cross-functional group of senior leaders appointed by our CEO, works with our Strategic Diversity Management leadership team to intentionally embed diversity across all facets of our business. For our efforts, we have been recognized as a DiversityInc Top 50 Company, named to Bloomberg’s 2019 Gender-Equality Index and earned a 100 percent score on the Disability Equality Index, meaning the company is recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.” The Company discloses information on our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, programs and progress in our annual Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) Report.

As a foundation of equity, we continuously focus on increasing underrepresented populations across our business. In 2020, 70% of our total colleague population and 52% of our colleagues at the manager level and above self-reported as female. In addition, in 2020 our colleagues reported their race/ethnicity as: White (53%), Black/African American (16%), Hispanic/Latino (15%), Asian (11%) and Other (5%). The appendix to our CSR Report includes additional data on the diversity of our workforce.

Our diversity management strategy emphasizes workplace representation, inclusion and belonging, talent acquisition and management and a diverse marketplace. We support 15 Colleague Resource Groups (“CRGs”) that include more than 22,000 colleagues across the enterprise. These groups represent a wide range of professional, cultural, ethical and personal affinities and interests, as well as formal mentoring programs. Our CRGs provide our colleagues with an opportunity to connect and network with one another through a particular affinity, culture or interest. Each of our CRGs is sponsored by a senior leader.

Colleague Development

The Company offers a number of resources and programs that attract, engage, develop, advance and retain colleagues. Training and development provides colleagues the support they need to perform well in their current role while planning and preparing for future roles. We offer an online orientation program that pairs new hires with seasoned colleagues and the training continues throughout a colleague’s career through in-person, virtual and self-paced learning at all levels. We also provide mentoring, tools and workshops for colleagues to manage their career development. We offer a variety of management and leadership programs that develop incumbent diverse and other high potential colleagues. Our broad training practices include updated, tech-enabled tools and keep our colleagues informed of new developments in our industry that are relevant to their roles. During the year ended December 31, 2020, our colleagues completed nearly 12 million training courses.

Our colleague development program also promotes the importance of compliance across our business. Our colleagues demonstrate this commitment through our annual Code of Conduct training, which 100% of active colleagues completed in 2020. In 2020, we launched more than 75 different training courses as part of our annual Enterprise Compliance Training Program.

Health & Safety

We have a strong commitment to providing a safe working environment.

We utilize Safety Service Plans to analyze data and concentrate on key areas of risk to reduce the chance of workplace incidents. We focus on identifying causes and improving performance when workplace incidents occur. We also engage leaders in promoting a culture of safety. With safety task forces in place at each distribution center, we empower leaders and safety business partners to identify policies, procedures and processes that could improve their own operations.

In addition, from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took a comprehensive approach to managing occupational health and safety challenges presented by the pandemic. We implemented social distancing practices and enhanced cleaning protocols at all of our locations. We launched a COVID-19 command center to coordinate responsive actions to reports of COVID-positivity among colleagues, including contact tracing, sanitizing and collaborating with public health officials. We distributed personal protective equipment based on our safety professionals’ assessment of various activities our colleagues perform. We added engineering controls and enhanced safety features in our retail locations, including protective panels at pharmacy counters and front store checkout stations. We developed travel, work from home, self-quarantine, wellness check, and other HR-related guidance to help colleagues maintain their health and safety while continuing to support the essential operations of the Company.

Intellectual Property

The Company has registered and/or applied to register a variety of trademarks and service marks used throughout its businesses, as well as domain names, and relies on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws, in addition to contractual restrictions, to establish and protect the Company’s proprietary rights. The Company regards its intellectual property as having significant value in the Pharmacy Services, Retail/LTC and Health Care Benefits segments. The Company is not aware of any facts that could materially impact the continuing use of any of its intellectual property.

Government Regulation

Overview

The Company’s operations are subject to comprehensive federal, state and local laws and regulations and comparable multiple levels of international regulation in the jurisdictions in which it does business. There also continues to be a heightened level of review and/or audit by federal, state and international regulators of the health and related benefits industry’s business and reporting practices. In addition, many of the Company’s PBM clients and the Company’s payors in the Retail/LTC segment, including insurers, Medicare plans, Managed Medicaid plans and MCOs, are themselves subject to extensive regulations that affect the design and implementation of prescription drug benefit plans that they sponsor. Similarly, the Company’s LTC clients, such as skilled nursing facilities, are subject to government regulations, including many of the same government regulations to which the Company is subject.

The laws and rules governing the Company’s businesses and interpretations of those laws and rules continue to expand and become more restrictive each year and are subject to frequent change. The application of these complex legal and regulatory requirements to the detailed operation of the Company’s businesses creates areas of uncertainty. Further, there are numerous proposed health care, financial services and other laws and regulations at the federal, state and international levels, some of which could adversely affect the Company’s businesses if they are enacted. The Company cannot predict whether pending or future federal or state legislation or court proceedings, including fundamental changes to the dynamics of one or more of the industries in which it competes, such as the federal or one or more state governments fundamentally restructuring the Commercial, Medicare or Medicaid marketplace or reducing payments to the Company under or financing for Medicare, Medicaid, dual eligible or special needs programs, increasing its involvement in drug reimbursement, pricing, purchasing, and/or importation or changing the laws governing PBMs, will change various aspects of the industries in which it competes or the health care industry generally or the impact those changes will have on the Company’s businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or stock price, but the effects could be materially adverse. The Company has internal control policies and procedures and conducts training and compliance programs for its employees to deter prohibited practices. However, if the Company’s employees or agents fail to comply with applicable laws governing its international or other operations, it may face investigations, prosecutions and other legal proceedings and actions which could result in civil penalties, administrative remedies and criminal sanctions. Any failure or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations summarized below, or any adverse applications or interpretations of, or changes in, the laws and regulations affecting the Company and/or its businesses, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operating results, financial condition, cash flows and/or stock price. See Item 3 of this 10-K, “Legal Proceedings,” for further information.

The Company can give no assurance that its businesses, financial condition, operating results and/or cash flows will not be materially adversely affected, or that the Company will not be required to materially change its business practices, based on: (i) future enactment of new health care or other laws or regulations; (ii) the interpretation or application of existing laws or regulations, including the laws and regulations described in this Government Regulation section, as they may relate to one or more of the Company’s businesses, one or more of the industries in which the Company competes and/or the health care industry generally; (iii) pending or future federal or state governmental investigations of one or more of the Company’s

businesses, one or more of the industries in which the Company competes and/or the health care industry generally; (iv) pending or future government audits, investigations or enforcement actions against the Company; (v) adverse developments in any pending qui tam lawsuit against the Company, whether sealed or unsealed, or in any future qui tam lawsuit that may be filed against the Company; or (vi) adverse developments in pending or future legal proceedings against the Company or affecting one or more of the industries in which the Company competes and/or the health care industry generally.

Laws and Regulations Related to COVID-19

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Families First Act”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) were enacted in March 2020. Each of the Families First Act and the CARES Act requires the Company to provide coverage for COVID-19 related medical services, in many cases without member cost-sharing, in its Insured Health Care Benefits products.

The CARES Act also provides relief funding to providers to reimburse them for health care related expenses incurred in preventing, preparing for and/or responding to COVID-19 (provided no other source is obligated to reimburse those expenses) or lost health care related revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. Under the CARES Act, the Company receives reimbursement for uninsured patients in connection with COVID-19 testing and vaccination as well as monoclonal antibody treatment. Aside from such reimbursement, the Company did not request any funding under the CARES Act. However, in the second quarter of 2020, the Company received $43 million from the CARES Act provider relief fund, all of which was returned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) during the second quarter of 2020.

The CARES Act also allows for the deferral of the payment of the employer share of Social Security taxes effective March 27, 2020. The Company has elected to defer its Social Security tax payments in accordance with this provision, and will remit the associated payments in two equal installments on or about December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2022, as required under the CARES Act. The Company deferred approximately $670 million of its Social Security tax payments during the year ended December 31, 2020.

In addition to the Families First Act and the CARES Act, the Company is experiencing an unprecedented level of new laws, regulations, directives and orders from federal, state, county and municipal authorities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of which have been issued on an emergency basis with immediate, or in some instances retroactive, effect. These governmental actions include, but are not limited to, requirements to waive member cost-sharing associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment, provide coverage for additional COVID-19-related services, expand the use of telemedicine, suspend precertification or other UM mechanisms (including review of claims for medical necessity), allow earlier or longer renewal of prescriptions, extend grace periods for payments of premiums or limit coverage termination based on non-payment of premiums or fees, modify health benefits coverage eligibility rules to help maintain employee eligibility, and facilitate, accelerate or advance payments to providers. For example, in December 2020, as part of a COVID-19 relief package, Congress enacted a 3.75% payment increase to providers through the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which Medicare Advantage plans often use as a benchmark for provider contracts. As a result, in many instances the Company will be contractually required to pass on this payment to its providers, which was not anticipated at the time of bidding.

Related governmental actions have required the Company to close or significantly limit operations at traditional office worksites and affected the hours of operation of MinuteClinic locations and the Company’s pharmacies. In some instances, the Company has taken permitted proactive actions consistent with more general regulatory directives, such as expanding home delivery of prescription medications, extending hours of operation for member assistance lines and liberalizing certain other terms of coverage. Similar directives have affected the Company’s international operations. The Company anticipates additional mandates and directives from domestic and foreign federal, state, county and local authorities throughout the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and for some time thereafter, some of which may result in permanent changes in the Company’s operations or the health care and other benefits cost and other risks assumed by the Company. Further, although the Company has seen regulators relax certain requirements in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as temporary suspension of certain audits and extensions of certain filing deadlines, failure to provide regulatory relief or accommodations in other areas may result in increased costs or reduced revenue for the Company.

The impact of this governmental activity on the U.S. economy, consumer, customer and health care provider behavior and health care utilization patterns is beyond our knowledge and control. As a result, the financial and/or operational impact these COVID-19 related governmental actions and inactions will have on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition is uncertain, but the collective impact could be material and adverse.

Laws and Regulations Related to Multiple Segments of the Company’s Business

Laws Related to Reimbursement by Government Programs - The Company is subject to various federal and state laws concerning its submission of claims and other information to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal and state government-sponsored health care programs. Potential sanctions for violating these laws include recoupment or reduction of government reimbursement amounts, civil penalties, treble damages, and exclusion from participation in government health care programs. Such laws include the federal False Claims Act (the “False Claims Act”), the federal anti-kickback statute (the “AKS”), state false claims acts and anti-kickback statutes in most states, the federal “Stark Law” and related state laws. In particular, the False Claims Act prohibits intentionally submitting, conspiring to submit, or causing to be submitted, false claims, records, or statements to the federal government, or intentionally failing to return overpayments, in connection with reimbursement by federal government programs. In addition, any claim for government reimbursement also violates the False Claims Act where it results from a violation of the AKS.

Both federal and state false claims laws permit private individuals to file qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuits on behalf of the federal or state government. Participants in the health and related benefits industry, including the Company, frequently are subject to actions under the False Claims Act or similar state laws. The federal Stark Law generally prohibits physicians from referring Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries for certain services, including outpatient prescription drugs, to any entity with which the physician, or an immediate family member of the physician, has a financial relationship. The Stark Law further prohibits the entity receiving a prohibited referral from presenting a claim for reimbursement by Medicare or Medicaid for services furnished pursuant to the prohibited referral. Various states have enacted similar laws.

The ACA - The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the ACA by June 2021. If the ACA is deemed unconstitutional, there will likely be significant changes to the laws and rules that govern the Company’s businesses. If the ACA is deemed constitutional, there may nevertheless be continued efforts to invalidate, modify, repeal or replace it or portions of it, and the Company expects aspects of the ACA to continue to significantly impact its business operations and operating results, including pricing, medical benefit ratios (“MBRs”) and the geographies in which the Company’s products are available.

The ACA made broad-based changes to the U.S. health care system. While most of the significant aspects of the ACA became effective during or prior to 2014, parts of the ACA continue to evolve through the promulgation of executive orders, legislation, regulations and guidance as well as ongoing litigation. Additional changes to the ACA and those regulations and guidance at the federal and/or state level are likely, and those changes are likely to be significant. Growing federal and state budgetary pressures make it more likely that any changes, including changes at the state level in response to changes to, or invalidation, repeal or replacement of, the ACA and/or changes in the funding levels and/or payment mechanisms of federally supported benefit programs, will be adverse to us. For example, if any elements of the ACA are invalidated or repealed at the federal level, the Company expects that some states would seek to enact similar requirements, such as prohibiting pre-existing condition exclusions, prohibiting rescission of insurance coverage, requiring coverage for dependents up to age 26, requiring guaranteed renewability of insurance coverage and prohibiting lifetime limits on insurance coverage.

The Company filed a lawsuit in August 2019 to recover the $313 million it was owed under the ACA’s risk corridor program, which had been stayed pending the Supreme Court decision. In April 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that health insurance companies may sue the federal government for amounts owed as calculated under the ACA’s temporary risk corridor program. In October 2020, the Company received the $313 million in funds it was owed under the ACA’s risk corridor program.

The expansion of health care coverage contemplated by the ACA is being funded in part by reductions to the reimbursements the Company and other health plans are paid by the federal government for Medicare members, among other sources. While not all-inclusive, the following are some of the recent key funding changes related to the ACA (assuming it continues to be implemented in its current form). The Company continues to evaluate these provisions and the related regulations and regulatory guidance to determine the impact that they will have on its business operations and operating results:

•The repeal of the annual non-tax deductible industry-wide HIF for calendar years after 2020. The HIF was $15.5 billion and $14.3 billion for 2020 and 2018, respectively, and suspended for 2019.

•The repeal of the non-tax deductible 40% excise tax on employer-sponsored health care benefits above a certain threshold that was scheduled to begin in 2022.

•Reduced federal matching funds for Medicaid expansion. Starting in 2017, the federal matching rate declined slightly each year until it reached 90 percent in 2020, and will remain there.

The ACA also specifies minimum medical loss ratios (“MLRs”) for Commercial and Medicare Insured products, specifies features required to be included in commercial benefit designs, limits commercial individual and small group rating and pricing practices, encourages additional competition (including potential incentives for new participants to enter the marketplace) and significantly increases federal and state oversight of health plans, including regulations and processes that could delay or limit the Company’s ability to appropriately increase its health plan premium rates. This in turn could adversely affect the Company’s ability to continue to participate in certain product lines and/or geographies that it serves today.

Potential repeal of the ACA, ongoing legislative, regulatory and administrative policy changes to the ACA, the results of federal and state level elections, pending litigation challenging the constitutionality of the ACA or funding for the law and federal budget negotiations continue to create uncertainty about the ultimate impact of the ACA. Given the inherent difficulty of foreseeing the nature and scope of future changes to the ACA and how states, businesses and individuals will respond to those changes, the Company cannot predict the impact on it of future changes to the ACA. It is reasonably possible that invalidation, repeal or replacement of or other changes to the ACA and/or states’ responses to such changes, in the aggregate, could have a significant adverse effect on the Company’s businesses, operating results and cash flows.

Medicare Regulation - The Company’s Medicare Advantage products compete directly with Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage products offered by other Medicare Advantage organizations and Medicare Supplement products offered by other insurers. The Company’s Medicare PDP and Medicare Supplement products are products that Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in Original Medicare purchase to enhance their Original Medicare coverage.

The Company continues to expand the number of counties in which it offers Medicare products. The Company has expanded its Medicare service area and products in 2021 and is seeking to substantially grow its Medicare membership, revenue and operating results over the next several years, including through growth in Medicare Supplement products. The anticipated organic expansion of the Medicare service area and Medicare products offered and the Medicare-related provisions of the ACA significantly increase the Company’s exposure to funding and regulation of, and changes in government policy with respect to and/or funding or regulation of, the various Medicare programs in which the Company participates, including changes in the amounts payable to us under those programs and/or new reforms or surcharges on existing programs. For example, the ACA requires minimum MLRs for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans of 85%. If a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D contract pays minimum MLR rebates for three consecutive years, it will become ineligible to enroll new members. If a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D contract pays such rebates for five consecutive years, it will be terminated by CMS. Due to potential lower utilization of medical services by Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible certain Medicare Advantage contracts may not meet the 85% MLR for consecutive years.

The Company’s Medicare Advantage and PDP products are heavily regulated by CMS. The regulations and contractual requirements applicable to the Company and other private participants in Medicare programs are complex, expensive to comply with and subject to change. For example, in the second quarter of 2014, CMS issued a final rule implementing the ACA requirements that Medicare Advantage and PDP plans report and refund to CMS overpayments that those plans receive from CMS. The precise interpretation, impact and legality of this rule are not clear and are subject to pending litigation. Payments the Company receives from CMS for its Medicare Advantage and Part D businesses also are subject to risk adjustment based on the health status of the individuals enrolled. Elements of that risk adjustment mechanism continue to be challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”), the Office of the Inspector General of the HHS (the “OIG”) and CMS itself. Substantial changes in the risk adjustment mechanism, including changes that result from enforcement or audit actions, could materially affect the amount of the Company’s Medicare reimbursement, require the Company to raise prices or reduce the benefits offered to Medicare beneficiaries, and potentially limit the Company’s (and the industry’s) participation in the Medicare program.

The Company has invested significant resources to comply with Medicare standards, and its Medicare compliance efforts will continue to require significant resources. CMS may seek premium and other refunds, prohibit the Company from continuing to market and/or enroll members in or refuse to passively enroll members in one or more of the Company’s Medicare or Medicare-Medicaid demonstration (historically known as “dual eligible”) plans, exclude us from participating in one or more Medicare, dual eligible or dual eligible special needs plan programs and/or institute other sanctions and/or civil monetary penalties against the Company if it fails to comply with CMS regulations or its Medicare contractual requirements. The Company’s Medicare Supplement products are regulated at the state level and subject to similar significant compliance requirements and risks.

CMS regularly audits the Company’s performance to determine its compliance with CMS’s regulations and its contracts with CMS and to assess the quality of services it provides to Medicare Advantage and PDP beneficiaries. For example, CMS conducts risk adjustment data validation (“RADV”) audits of a subset of Medicare Advantage contracts for each contract year.

Since 2013, CMS has selected certain of the Company’s Medicare Advantage contracts for various years for RADV audit, and the number of RADV audits continues to increase. The OIG also is auditing the Company’s risk adjustment data and that of other companies, and the Company expects CMS and the OIG to continue auditing risk adjustment data. The Company also has received Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) from, and provided documents and information to, the Civil Division of the DOJ in connection with a current investigation of its patient chart review processes in connection with risk adjustment data submissions under Parts C and D of the Medicare program.

On October 26, 2018, CMS issued proposed rules related to, among other things, changes to the RADV audit methodology established by CMS in 2012. CMS projects that the changes to the RADV audit methodology would increase its recoveries from Medicare Advantage plans as a result of RADV audits. CMS has requested comments on the proposed rules, including whether the proposed RADV rule change should apply retroactively to audits of Medicare Advantage plans for contract year 2011 and forward. The Company is evaluating the potential adverse effect, which could be material, on the Company’s operating results, financial condition, and cash flows if the proposed RADV rule change were adopted as proposed. CMS also has announced that its goal is to subject all Medicare Advantage contracts to either a comprehensive or a targeted RADV audit for each contract year.

A portion of each Medicare Advantage plan’s reimbursement is tied to the plan’s “star ratings.” The star rating system considers a variety of measures adopted by CMS, including quality of preventative services, chronic illness management, compliance and overall customer satisfaction. Only Medicare Advantage plans with an overall star rating of four or more stars (out of five stars) are eligible for a quality bonus in their basic premium rates. As a result, the Company’s Medicare Advantage plans’ operating results in 2021 and going forward will be significantly affected by their star ratings. The Company’s star ratings and past performance scores are adversely affected by the compliance issues that arise each year in its Medicare operations. CMS released the Company’s 2021 star ratings in October 2020. The Company’s 2021 star ratings will be used to determine which of its Medicare Advantage plans have ratings of four stars or higher and qualify for bonus payments in 2022. Based on the Company’s membership at December 31, 2020, 83% of the Company’s Medicare Advantage members were in plans with 2021 star ratings of at least 4.0 stars. CMS also gives PDPs star ratings which affect each PDP’s enrollment. Medicare Advantage and PDP plans that are rated less than three stars for three consecutive years are subject to contract termination by CMS. CMS continues to revise its star ratings system to make it harder to achieve four stars or more. Despite the Company’s success in achieving high 2021 star ratings and other quality measures and the continuation of its improvement efforts, there can be no assurances that it will be successful in maintaining or improving its star ratings in future years. Accordingly, the Company’s Medicare Advantage plans may not be eligible for full level quality bonuses, which could adversely affect the benefits such plans can offer, reduce membership and/or reduce profit margins.

Overall, the Company projects the benchmark payment rates in CMS’s April 2020 final notice detailing final Medicare Advantage benchmark payment rates for 2021 will increase funding for the Company’s Medicare Advantage business, excluding the impact of the HIF in 2020, by approximately 1.8% in 2021 compared to 2020. This 2021 rate increase only partially offsets the challenge the Company faces from the impact of the increasing cost of medical care (including prescription medications) and CMS local and national coverage decisions that require the Company to pay for services and supplies that are not factored into the Company’s bids. The federal government may seek to impose restrictions on the configuration of pharmacy or other provider networks for Medicare Advantage and/or PDP plans, or otherwise restrict the ability of these plans to alter benefits, negotiate prices or establish other terms to improve affordability or maintain viability of products. The Company currently believes that the payments it has received and will receive in the near term are adequate to justify the Company’s continued participation in the Medicare Advantage and PDP programs, although there are economic and political pressures to continue to reduce spending on the program, and this outlook could change. In January 2021, CMS issued its final notice detailing final 2022 Medicare Advantage benchmark payment rates. Final 2022 Medicare Advantage rates resulted in an increase in industry benchmark rates of approximately 4.1%.

Going forward, the Company expects CMS, the OIG, the DOJ, other federal agencies and the U.S. Congress to continue to scrutinize closely each component of the Medicare program (including Medicare Advantage, PDPs, demonstration projects such as Medicare-Medicaid plans and provider network access and adequacy), modify the terms and requirements of the program and possibly seek to recast or limit private insurers’ roles. It is not possible to predict the outcome of this Congressional or regulatory activity, any of which could materially and adversely affect the Company.

In addition, in November 2020, the HHS released the final Rebate Rule (the “Rebate Rule”), which eliminates the regulatory safe harbor from prosecution under the AKS for rebates from pharmaceutical companies to PBMs in Medicare Part D, replacing it with two far narrower safe harbors designed to directly benefit patients with high out-of-pocket costs and to change the way PBMs are compensated. The new safe harbors are (i) for rebates which are passed on to the patient at the point of sale and (ii) for flat service fee payments made to PBMs which cannot be tied to the list prices of drugs. The Pharmaceutical Care

Management Association (the “PCMA”), which represents PBMs, has filed a suit in an effort to block the Rebate Rule, claiming that the Rebate Rule would lead to higher premiums in Medicare Part D and was adopted in an unlawful manner. It is unclear whether the Rebate Rule will be enforceable, whether pharmaceutical companies will respond by reducing list prices, whether list prices in the private market may also be reduced, and what the resulting impact will be to PBMs or the Company.

340B Drug Pricing Program – The 340B Drug Pricing Program allows eligible covered entities to purchase prescription drugs from manufacturers at a steep discount, and is overseen by the HHS and the Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”). In 2020, a number of pharmaceutical manufacturers began programs that limited covered entities’ participation in the program through contract pharmacies arrangements, which the Company has with some covered entities. Enforcement from HHS and HRSA to curb these manufacturer practices will significantly impact the Company’s participation in the program in the future.

Anti-Remuneration Laws - Federal law prohibits, among other things, an entity from knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving, subject to certain exceptions and “safe harbors,” any remuneration to induce the referral of individuals or the purchase, lease or order of items or services for which payment may be made under Medicare, Medicaid or certain other federal and state health care programs. A number of states have similar laws, some of which are not limited to services paid for with government funds. Sanctions for violating these federal and state anti-remuneration laws may include imprisonment, criminal and civil fines, and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal and state government-sponsored health care programs. Companies involved in public health care programs such as Medicare and/or Medicaid are required to maintain compliance programs to detect and deter fraud, waste and abuse, and are often the subject of fraud, waste and abuse investigations and audits. The Company has invested significant resources to comply with Medicare and Medicaid program standards. Ongoing vigorous law enforcement and the highly technical regulatory scheme mean that the Company’s compliance efforts in this area will continue to require significant resources.

Antitrust and Unfair Competition - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) investigates and prosecutes practices that are “unfair trade practices” or “unfair methods of competition.” Numerous lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States against pharmaceutical manufacturers, retail pharmacies and/or PBMs under various federal and state antitrust and unfair competition laws challenging, among other things: (i) brand name drug pricing and rebate practices of pharmaceutical manufacturers, (ii) the maintenance of retail or specialty pharmacy networks by PBMs, and (iii) various other business practices of PBMs and retail pharmacies. To the extent that the Company appears to have actual or potential market power in a relevant market or CVS Pharmacy, CVS Specialty or MinuteClinic plays a unique or expanded role in a Pharmacy Services or Health Care Benefits segment product offering, the Company’s business arrangements and uses of confidential information may be subject to heightened scrutiny from an anti-competitive perspective and possible challenge by state and/or federal regulators and/or private parties.

Privacy and Confidentiality Requirements - Many of the Company’s activities involve the receipt, use and disclosure by the Company of personally identifiable information (“PII”) as permitted in accordance with applicable federal and state privacy and data security laws, which require organizations to provide appropriate privacy and security safeguards for such information. In addition to PII, the Company uses and discloses de-identified data for analytical and other purposes when permitted. Additionally, there are industry standards for handling credit card data known as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which are a set of requirements designed to help ensure that entities that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Certain states have incorporated these requirements into state laws or enacted other requirements relating to the use and/or disclosure of PII.

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the regulations issued thereunder (collectively, “HIPAA”), as further modified by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) impose extensive requirements on the way in which health plans, providers, health care clearinghouses (known as “covered entities”) and their business associates use, disclose and safeguard protected health information (“PHI”). Further, ARRA requires the Company and other covered entities to report any breaches of PHI to impacted individuals and to the HHS and to notify the media in any states where 500 or more people are impacted by the unauthorized release or use of or access to PHI. Criminal penalties and civil sanctions may be imposed for failing to comply with HIPAA standards. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”), enacted as part of ARRA, amended HIPAA to impose additional restrictions on third-party funded communications using PHI and the receipt of remuneration in exchange for PHI. The HITECH Act also extended HIPAA privacy and security requirements and penalties directly to business associates. HHS has begun to audit health plans, providers and other parties to enforce HIPAA compliance, including with respect to data security.

In addition to HIPAA, state health privacy laws apply to the extent they are more protective of individual privacy than is HIPAA, including laws that place stricter controls on the release of information relating to specific diseases or conditions and

requirements to notify members of unauthorized release or use of or access to PHI. States also have adopted regulations to implement provisions of the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”)) which generally require insurers, including health insurers, to provide customers with notice regarding how their non-public personal health and financial information is used and the opportunity to “opt out” of certain disclosures before the insurer shares such information with a non-affiliated third party. Like HIPAA, GLBA sets a “floor” standard, allowing states to adopt more stringent requirements governing privacy protection. Complying with additional state requirements requires us to make additional investments beyond those the Company has made to comply with HIPAA and GLBA.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 encourages organizations to share cyber threat indicators with the federal government and, among other things, directs HHS to develop a set of voluntary cybersecurity best practices for organizations in the health care industry. In addition, states have begun to enact more comprehensive privacy laws and regulations addressing consumer rights to data access, deletion, protection or transparency, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). States also are starting to issue regulations and proposed regulations specifically related to cybersecurity, such as the regulations issued by the New York Department of Financial Services. Complying with conflicting cybersecurity regulations, which may differ from state to state, requires significant resources. In addition, differing approaches to state privacy and/or cyber-security regulation and varying enforcement philosophies may materially and adversely affect the Company’s ability to standardize its products and services across state lines. Widely-reported large scale commercial data breaches in the United States and abroad increase the likelihood that additional data security legislation will be considered by additional states. These legislative and regulatory developments will impact the design and operation of the Company’s businesses, its privacy and security strategy and its web-based and mobile assets.

Finally, each Public Exchange is required to adhere to privacy and security standards with respect to PII, and to impose privacy and security standards that are at least as protective of PII as those the Public Exchange has implemented for itself or non-Public Exchange entities, which include insurers offering plans through the Public Exchange and their designated downstream entities, including PBMs and other business associates. These standards may differ from, and be more stringent than, HIPAA.

Consumer Protection Laws - The federal government has many consumer protection laws, such as the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Federal Postal Service Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act. Most states also have similar consumer protection laws and a growing number of states regulate subscription programs. In addition, the federal government and most states have adopted laws and/or regulations requiring places of public accommodation, health care services and other goods and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. These consumer protection and accessibility laws and regulations have been the basis for investigations, lawsuits and multistate settlements relating to, among other matters, the marketing of loyalty programs, and health care products and services, pricing accuracy, expired front store products, financial incentives provided by drug manufacturers to pharmacies in connection with therapeutic interchange programs, disclosures related to how personal data is used and protected and the accessibility of goods and services to people with disabilities. As a result of the Company’s direct-to-consumer activities, including mobile and web-based solutions offered to members and to other consumers, the Company also is subject to federal and state regulations applicable to electronic communications and to other general consumer protection laws and regulations. For example, the CCPA became effective in 2020, and additional federal and state regulation of consumer privacy protection may be proposed or enacted in 2020. The Company expects these new laws and regulations to impact the design of its products and services and the management and operation of its businesses and to increase its compliance costs.

Transparency in Coverage Rule - In October 2020, the HHS released a final rule requiring health insurers to disclose negotiated prices of drugs, medical services, supplies and other covered items to the public. The rule requires group health plans and health insurance issuers in the individual and group markets to disclose cost-sharing information upon request, to a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee, which, unless otherwise indicated, for the purpose of the final rules includes an authorized representative, and require plans and issuers to disclose in-network provider rates, historical out-of-network allowed amounts and the associated billed charges, and negotiated rates for prescription drugs. Disclosure of data in a machine readable file is required beginning in January 2022, and insurers are required to have a consumer tool in place by January 2023. The public disclosure of insurer- or PBM-negotiated price concessions may result in drug manufacturers lowering discounts or rebates, resulting in higher drug costs for patients and impacting the ability of the Company to negotiate drug prices and provide competitive products and services to consumers.

Telemarketing and Other Outbound Contacts - Certain federal and state laws, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, give the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission and state attorneys general the ability to regulate, and bring enforcement actions relating to, telemarketing practices and certain automated outbound contacts such as phone calls, texts or emails. Under certain circumstances, these laws provide consumers with a private right of action. Violations of these laws could result in substantial statutory penalties and other sanctions.

Pharmacy and Professional Licensure and Regulation - The Company is subject to a variety of intersecting federal and state statutes and regulations that govern the wholesale distribution of drugs; operation of retail, specialty, infusion, LTC and mail order pharmacies; licensure of facilities and professionals, including pharmacists, technicians, nurses and other health care professionals; registration of facilities with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (the “DEA”) and analogous state agencies that regulate controlled substances; packaging, storing, shipping and tracking of pharmaceuticals; repackaging of drug products; labeling, medication guides and other consumer disclosures; interactions with prescribers and health care professionals; compounding of prescription medications; dispensing of controlled and non-controlled substances; counseling of patients; transfers of prescriptions; advertisement of prescription products and pharmacy services; security; inventory control; recordkeeping; reporting to Boards of Pharmacy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the DEA and related state agencies; and other elements of pharmacy practice. Pharmacies are highly regulated and have contact with a wide variety of federal, state and local agencies with various powers to investigate, inspect, audit or solicit information, including Boards of Pharmacy and Nursing, the DEA, the FDA, the DOJ, HHS and others. Many of these agencies have broad enforcement powers, conduct audits on a regular basis, can impose substantial fines and penalties, and may revoke the license, registration or program enrollment of a facility or professional.

State Insurance, HMO and Insurance Holding Company Regulation - A number of states regulate affiliated groups of insurers and HMOs such as the Company under holding company statutes. These laws may, among other things, require prior regulatory approval of dividends and material intercompany transfers of assets and transactions between the regulated companies and their affiliates, including their parent holding companies. The Company expects the states in which its insurance and HMO subsidiaries are licensed to continue to expand their regulation of the corporate governance and internal control activities of its insurance companies and HMOs. Changes to state insurance, HMO and/or insurance holding company laws or regulations or changes to the interpretation of those laws or regulations, including due to regulators’ increasing concerns regarding insurance company and/or HMO solvency due, among other things, to past and expected payor insolvencies, could negatively affect the Company’s businesses in various ways, including through increases in solvency fund assessments, requirements that the Company hold greater levels of capital and/or delays in approving dividends from regulated subsidiaries.

PBM offerings of prescription drug coverage under certain risk arrangements may be subject to laws and regulations in various states. Such laws may require that the party at risk become licensed as an insurer, establish reserves or otherwise demonstrate financial viability. Laws that may apply in such cases include insurance laws and laws governing MCOs and limited prepaid health service plans.

The states of domicile of the Company’s regulated subsidiaries have statutory risk-based capital (“RBC”) requirements for health and other insurance companies and HMOs based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Risk-Based Capital for Insurers Model Act (the “RBC Model Act”). These RBC requirements are intended to assess the capital adequacy of life and health insurers and HMOs, taking into account the risk characteristics of a company’s investments and products. The RBC Model Act sets forth the formula for calculating RBC requirements, which are designed to take into account asset risks, insurance risks, interest rate risks and other relevant risks with respect to an individual company’s business. In general, under these laws, an insurance company or HMO must submit a report of its RBC level to the insurance department or insurance commissioner of its state of domicile for each calendar year. At December 31, 2020, the RBC level of each of the Company’s insurance and HMO subsidiaries was above the level that would require regulatory action.

For information regarding restrictions on certain payments of dividends or other distributions by the Company’s HMO and insurance company subsidiaries, see Note 12 ‘‘Shareholders’ Equity’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K.

The holding company laws for the states of domicile of certain of the Company’s subsidiaries also restrict the ability of any person to obtain control of an insurance company or HMO without prior regulatory approval. Under those statutes, without such approval (or an exemption), no person may acquire any voting security of an insurance holding company (such as the Company’s ultimate parent company, CVS Health) that controls an insurance company or HMO, or merge with such a holding company, if as a result of such transaction such person would control the insurance holding company. Control is generally defined as the direct or indirect power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person and is presumed to exist if a person directly or indirectly owns or controls 10% or more of the voting securities of another person.

Certain states have laws that prohibit submitting a false claim or making a false record or statement in order to secure reimbursement from an insurance company. These state laws vary, and violation of them may lead to the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

Government Agreements and Mandates - The Company and/or its various affiliates are subject to certain consent decrees, settlement and other agreements, corrective action plans and corporate integrity agreements with various federal, state and local authorities relating to such matters as privacy practices, controlled substances, PDPs, expired products, environmental and safety matters, marketing and advertising practices, PBM, LTC and other pharmacy operations and various other business practices. Certain of these agreements contain ongoing reporting, monitoring and/or other compliance requirements for the Company. Failure to meet the Company’s obligations under these agreements could result in civil or criminal remedies, financial penalties, administrative remedies, and/or exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.

Environmental and Safety Regulation - The Company’s businesses are subject to various federal, state and local laws, regulations and other requirements pertaining to protection of the environment, public health and employee safety, including, for example, regulations governing the management of hazardous substances, the cleaning up of contaminated sites, and the maintenance of safe working conditions in the Company’s retail locations, distribution centers and other facilities. Governmental agencies at the federal, state and local levels continue to focus on the retail and health care sectors’ compliance with such laws and regulations, and have at times pursued enforcement activities. Any failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines or other sanctions by government authorities.

ERISA Regulation - The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), provides for comprehensive federal regulation of certain employee pension and benefit plans, including private employer and union sponsored health plans and certain other plans that contract with us to provide PBM services. In general, the Company assists plan sponsors in the administration of their health benefit plans, including the prescription drug benefit portion of those plans, in accordance with the plan designs adopted by the plan sponsors. In addition, the Company may have fiduciary duties where it has specifically contracted with a plan sponsor to accept limited fiduciary responsibility, such as for the adjudication of initial prescription drug benefit claims and/or the appeals of denied claims under a plan. In addition to its fiduciary provisions, ERISA imposes civil and criminal liability on service providers to health plans and certain other persons if certain forms of illegal remuneration are made or received. These provisions of ERISA are broadly written and their application to specific business practices is often uncertain.

Some of the Company’s health and related benefits and large case pensions products and services and related fees also are subject to potential issues raised by judicial interpretations relating to ERISA. Under those interpretations, together with U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) regulations, the Company may have ERISA fiduciary duties with respect to PBM members and/or certain general account assets held under contracts that are not guaranteed benefit policies. As a result, certain transactions related to those general account assets are subject to conflict of interest and other restrictions, and the Company must provide certain disclosures to policyholders annually. The Company must comply with these restrictions or face substantial penalties.

In addition, ERISA generally preempts all state and local laws that relate to employee benefit plans, but the extent of the pre-emption continues to be reviewed by courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, in December 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Arkansas law that, among other things, mandates a particular pricing methodology, establishes an appeals process for a pharmacy when the reimbursement is below the pharmacy’s acquisition cost, permits a pharmacy to reverse and rebill if they cannot procure the drug from its wholesaler at a price equal to or less than the reimbursement rate, prohibits a PBM from reimbursing a pharmacy less than the amount it reimburses an affiliate on a per unit basis, and permits a pharmacy to decline to dispense if the reimbursement is lower than the pharmacy’s acquisition cost.

Other Legislative Initiatives and Regulatory Initiatives - The U.S. federal and state governments, as well as governments in other countries where the Company does business, continue to enact and seriously consider many broad-based legislative and regulatory proposals that have had a material impact on or could materially impact various aspects of the health care and related benefits system and the Company’s businesses, operating results and/or cash flows. For example:

•Under the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 significant, automatic across-the-board budget cuts (known as sequestration) began in March 2013, including Medicare spending cuts of not more than 2% of total program costs per year through 2024. Since then, Congress has extended and modified sequestration a number of times. Currently, the CARES Act suspended Medicare sequestration from May 2020 to the end of December 2020 and extended mandatory sequestration to 2030. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 extended the temporary suspension of Medicare sequestration through the end of March 2021. Significant uncertainty remains as to whether and how the U.S. Congress will proceed with actions that create additional federal revenue and/or with entitlement reform. The Company cannot predict future federal Medicare or federal or state Medicaid funding levels or the impact that future federal or state budget actions or entitlement program reform, if it occurs, will have on the Company’s businesses, operations or operating results, but the effects could be materially adverse, particularly on the Company’s Medicare and/or Medicaid revenues, MBRs and operating results.

•The European Union’s (“EU’s”) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) began to apply across the EU during 2018.

•Other significant legislative and/or regulatory measures which are or recently have been under consideration include the following:

•Eliminating payment of manufacturer’s rebates on prescription drugs to PBMs, PDPs and Managed Medicaid organizations in connection with federally funded health care programs.

•Imposing requirements and restrictions on the design and/or administration of pharmacy benefit plans offered by the Company’s and its clients’ health plans and/or its PBM clients and/or the services the Company provides to those clients, including prohibiting “differential” or “spread” pricing in PBM contracts; restricting or eliminating the use of formularies for prescription drugs; restricting the Company’s ability to require members to obtain drugs through a home delivery or specialty pharmacy; restricting the Company’s ability to place certain specialty or other drugs in the higher cost tiers of its pharmacy formularies; restricting the Company’s ability to make changes to drug formularies and/or clinical programs; limiting or eliminating rebates on pharmaceuticals; requiring the use of up front purchase price discounts on pharmaceuticals in lieu of rebates; restricting the Company’s ability to configure its health plan and retail pharmacy provider networks, including use of CVS Pharmacy locations; and restricting or eliminating the use of certain drug pricing methodologies.

•Increasing federal or state government regulation of, or involvement in, the pricing and/or purchasing of drugs.

•Restricting the Company’s ability to limit providers’ participation in its networks and/or remove providers from its networks by imposing network adequacy requirements or otherwise (including in its Medicare and Commercial Health Care Benefits products).

•Imposing assessments on (or to be collected by) health plans or health carriers that may or may not be passed through to their customers. These assessments may include assessments for insolvency, the uninsured, uncompensated care, Medicaid funding or defraying health care provider medical malpractice insurance costs.

•Mandating coverage by the Company’s and its clients’ health plans for additional conditions and/or specified procedures, drugs or devices (e.g., high cost pharmaceuticals, experimental pharmaceuticals and oral chemotherapy regimens).

•Regulating electronic connectivity.

•Mandating or regulating the disclosure of provider fee schedules, manufacturer’s rebates and other data about the Company’s payments to providers and/or payments the Company receives from pharmaceutical manufacturers.

•Mandating or regulating disclosure of provider outcome and/or efficiency information.

•Prescribing or limiting members’ financial responsibility for health care or other covered services they utilize, including restricting “surprise” bills by providers and by specifying procedures for resolving “surprise” bills.

•Prescribing payment levels for health care and other covered services rendered to the Company’s members by providers who do not have contracts with the Company.

•Assessing the medical device status of HIT products and/or solutions, mobile consumer wellness tools and clinical decision support tools, which may require compliance with FDA requirements in relation to some of these products, solutions and/or tools.

•Restricting the ability of employers and/or health plans to establish or impose member financial responsibility.

•Amending or supplementing ERISA to impose greater requirements on PBMs or the administration of employer-funded benefit plans or limit the scope of current ERISA pre-emption, which would among other things expose the Company and other health plans to expanded liability for punitive and other extra-contractual damages and additional state regulation.

It is uncertain whether the Company can counter the potential adverse effects of such potential legislation or regulation on its operating results or cash flows, including whether it can recoup, through higher premium rates, expanded membership or other measures, the increased costs of mandated coverage or benefits, assessments, fees, taxes or other increased costs, including the cost of modifying its systems to implement any enacted legislation or regulations.

The Company’s businesses also may be affected by other legislation and regulations. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act creates incentives for whistleblowers to speak directly to the government rather than utilizing internal compliance programs and reduces the burden of proof under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (the “FCPA”). There also are laws and regulations that set standards for the escheatment of funds to states.

Health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and flexible spending accounts and certain of the tax, fee and subsidy provisions of the ACA also are regulated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

The Company also may be adversely affected by court and regulatory decisions that expand or revise the interpretations of existing statutes and regulations or impose medical malpractice or bad faith liability. Federal and state courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, continue to consider cases, and federal and state regulators continue to issue regulations and interpretations, addressing bad faith liability for denial of medical claims, the scope of ERISA’s fiduciary duty requirements, the scope of the False Claims Act and the pre-emptive effect of ERISA on state laws.

Contract Audits - The Company is subject to audits of many of its contracts, including its PBM client contracts, its PBM rebate contracts, its PBM network contracts, its contracts relating to Medicare Advantage and/or Medicare Part D, the agreements the Company’s pharmacies enter into with other payors, its Medicaid contracts and its customer contracts. Because some of the Company’s contracts are with state or federal governments or with entities contracted with state or federal agencies, audits of these contracts are often regulated by the federal or state agencies responsible for administering federal or state benefits programs, including those which operate Medicaid fee for service plans, Managed Medicaid plans, Medicare Part D plans or Medicare Advantage organizations.

Federal Employee Health Benefits Program - The Company’s subsidiaries contract with the Office of Personnel Management (the “OPM”) to provide managed health care services under the FEHB program in their service areas. These contracts with the OPM and applicable government regulations establish premium rating arrangements for this program. OPM regulations require that community-rated FEHB plans meet a FEHB program-specific minimum MLR by plan code and market. Managing to these rules is complicated by the simultaneous application of the minimum MLR standards and associated premium rebate requirements of the ACA. The Company also has a contractual arrangement with carriers for the FEHB program, such as the BlueCross BlueShield Association, to provide pharmacy services to federal employees, postal workers, annuitants, and their dependents under the Government-wide Service Benefit Plan, as authorized by the FEHB Act and as part of the FEHB program. Additionally, the Company manages certain FEHB plans on a “cost-plus” basis. These arrangements subject the Company to certain aspects of the FEHB Act, and other federal regulations, such as the FEHB Acquisition Regulation, that otherwise would not be applicable to the Company. The OPM also is auditing the Company and its other contractors to, among other things, verify that plans meet their applicable FEHB program-specific MLR and the premiums established under the OPM’s Insured contracts and costs allocated pursuant to the OPM’s cost-based contracts are in compliance with the requirements of the applicable FEHB program. The OPM may seek premium refunds or institute other sanctions against the Company if it fails to comply with the FEHB program requirements.

Clinical Services Regulation - The Company provides clinical services to health plans, PBMs and providers for a variety of complex and common medical conditions, including arranging for certain members to participate in disease management programs. State laws regulate the practice of medicine, the practice of pharmacy, the practice of nursing and certain other clinical activities. Clinicians engaged in a professional practice in connection with the provision of clinical services must satisfy applicable state licensing requirements and must act within their scope of practice.

Third Party Administration and Other State Licensure Laws - Many states have licensure or registration laws governing certain types of administrative organizations, such as PPOs, TPAs and companies that provide utilization review services. Several states also have licensure or registration laws governing the organizations that provide or administer consumer card programs (also known as cash card or discount card programs).

International Regulation - The Company has insurance licenses in several foreign jurisdictions and does business directly or through local affiliations in numerous countries around the world. The Company has taken steps to be able to continue to serve customers in the European Economic Area following the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU (“Brexit”). However, the impact of Brexit on the Company’s international business and operating results is uncertain.

The Company’s international operations are subject to different, and sometimes more stringent, legal and regulatory requirements, which vary widely by jurisdiction, including anti-corruption laws; economic sanctions laws; various privacy, insurance, tax, tariff and trade laws and regulations; corporate governance, privacy, data protection (including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation which began to apply across the EU during 2018), data mining, data transfer, labor and employment, intellectual property, consumer protection and investment laws and regulations; discriminatory licensing procedures; compulsory cessions of reinsurance; required localization of records and funds; higher premium and income taxes; limitations on dividends and repatriation of capital; and requirements for local participation in an insurer’s ownership. In addition, the expansion of the Company’s operations into foreign countries increases the Company’s exposure to the anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering provisions of U.S. law, including the FCPA, and corresponding foreign laws, including the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 (the “UK Bribery Act”).

Anti-Corruption Laws - The FCPA prohibits offering, promising or authorizing others to give anything of value to a foreign government official to obtain or retain business or otherwise secure a business advantage. The Company also is subject to applicable anti-corruption laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. In many countries outside the United States, health care professionals are employed by the government. Therefore, the Company’s dealings with them are subject to regulation under the FCPA. Violations of the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal and civil sanctions as well as other penalties, and there continues to be a heightened level of FCPA enforcement activity by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the DOJ. The UK Bribery Act is an anti-corruption law that is broader in scope than the FCPA and applies to all companies with a nexus to the United Kingdom. Disclosures of FCPA violations may be shared with the UK authorities, thus potentially exposing companies to liability and potential penalties in multiple jurisdictions.

Anti-Money Laundering Regulations - Certain lines of the Company’s businesses are subject to Treasury anti-money laundering regulations. Those lines of business have implemented anti-money laundering policies designed to ensure their compliance with the regulations. The Company also is subject to anti-money laundering laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions where it operates.

Office of Foreign Assets Control - The Company also is subject to regulation by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury (“OFAC”). OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. In addition, the Company is subject to similar regulations in the non-U.S. jurisdictions in which it operates.

FDA Regulation - The FDA regulates the Company’s compounding pharmacy and clinical research operations. The FDA also generally has authority to, among other things, regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and labeling of medical devices (including hemodialysis devices such as the device the Company is developing and mobile medical devices) and many products sold through retail pharmacies, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, cosmetics, dietary supplements and certain food items. In addition, the FDA regulates the Company’s activities as a distributor of store brand products.

Laws and Regulations Related to the Pharmacy Services Segment

In addition to the laws and regulations discussed above that may affect multiple segments of the Company’s business, the Company is subject to federal, state and local statutes and regulations governing the operation of its Pharmacy Services segment specifically. Among these are the following:

PBM Laws and Regulation - Legislation and/or regulations seeking to regulate PBM activities in a comprehensive manner have been proposed or enacted in a number of states. This legislation could adversely affect the Company’s ability to conduct business on commercially reasonable terms in states where the legislation is in effect and the Company’s ability to standardize its PBM products and services across state lines. In addition, certain quasi-regulatory organizations, including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) and the National Council of Insurance Legislators, have issued model regulations or may propose future regulations concerning PBMs and/or PBM activities. Similarly, credentialing organizations such as NCQA and URAC may establish voluntary standards regarding PBM, mail order pharmacy and/or specialty pharmacy activities. While the actions of these quasi-regulatory or standard-setting organizations do not have the force of law, they may influence states to adopt their requirements or recommendations and influence client requirements for PBM, mail order pharmacy and/or specialty pharmacy services. Moreover, any standards established by these organizations could also impact the Company’s health plan clients and/or the services provided to those clients and/or the Company’s health plans.

The Company’s PBM activities also are regulated directly and indirectly at the federal and state levels, including being subject to the False Claims Act and state false claims acts and the AKS and state anti-kickback laws. These laws and regulations govern, and proposed legislation and regulations may govern and/or further restrict, critical PBM practices, including disclosure, receipt and retention of rebates and other payments received from pharmaceutical manufacturers; use of, administration of and/or changes to drug formularies, maximum allowable cost (“MAC”) list pricing, average wholesale prices (“AWP”) and/or clinical programs; the offering to plan sponsors of pricing that includes retail network “differential” or “spread” (i.e., a difference between the drug price charged to the plan sponsor by a PBM and the price paid by the PBM to the dispensing provider); disclosure of data to third parties; drug UM practices; the level of duty a PBM owes its customers; configuration of pharmacy networks; the operations of the Company’s pharmacies (including audits of its pharmacies); disclosure of negotiated provider reimbursement rates; disclosure of fees associated with administrative service agreements and patient care programs that are attributable to members’ drug utilization; and registration or licensing of PBMs. Failure by the

Company or one of its PBM services suppliers to comply with these laws or regulations could result in material fines and/or sanctions and could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operating results and/or cash flows.

The Company’s PBM service contracts, including those in which the Company assumes certain risks under performance guarantees or similar arrangements, are generally not subject to insurance regulation by the states. However, state departments of insurance are increasing their oversight of PBM activities due to legislation passing in a number of states requiring PBMs to register or obtain a license with the department. Rulemaking is either underway or has already taken place in a number of states with the areas of focus on licensure requirements, pharmacy reimbursement for generics (MAC reimbursement) and pharmacy audits - most of which fall under the state insurance code.

Most-Favored-Nations Rule - In November 2020, HHS released the Most-Favored-Nations Rule (the “MFN Rule”), which requires CMS to take a most-favored-nation approach in calculating payment for Medicare Part B drugs. The MFN Rule will test paying Part B drugs at comparable amounts to the lowest adjusted price paid by any country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that has a Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) per capita that is at least 60% of the U.S. GDP per capita. The MFN Rule will also test a redesign of the percentage add-on payment structure under Medicare Part B to remove incentives for use of higher-cost drugs through a flat per-dose add-on payment, and will include a financial hardship exemption for participants. The mandatory MFN Rule will operate for seven years, from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2027. Over the course of the model, CMS will monitor and evaluate the impact of the MFN Rule on beneficiary access to drugs, program costs, and the quality of care for beneficiaries. Further, CMS commits to assess initial impacts of the MFN Rule on quality of care, including access to drugs, prior to beginning performance year 5. Multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers have sued HHS over the rule, and it is currently delayed due to a temporary restraining order prohibiting CMS from implementing it. If implemented, the MFN Rule may impact the ability of the Company to negotiate drug prices and provide competitive products and services to consumers.

Pharmacy Network Access Legislation - Medicare Part D and a majority of states now have some form of legislation affecting the Company’s (and its health plans’ and its health plan clients’) ability to limit access to a pharmacy provider network or remove pharmacy network providers. For example, certain “any willing provider” legislation may require the Company or its clients to admit a nonparticipating pharmacy if such pharmacy is willing and able to meet the plan’s price and other applicable terms and conditions for network participation. These laws could negatively affect the services and economic benefits achievable through a limited pharmacy provider network. Also, a majority of states now have some form of legislation affecting the Company’s ability (and the Company’s and its client health plans’ ability) to conduct audits of network pharmacies regarding claims submitted to the Company for payment. These laws could negatively affect the Company’s ability to recover overpayments of claims submitted by network pharmacies that the Company identifies through pharmacy audits.

Pharmacy Pricing Legislation - A number of states have passed legislation regulating the Company’s ability to manage and establish MACs for generic prescription drugs. MAC methodology is a common cost management practice used by private and public payors (including CMS) to pay pharmacies for dispensing generic prescription drugs. MAC prices specify the allowable reimbursement by a PBM for a particular strength and dosage of a generic drug that is available from multiple manufacturers but sold at different prices. State legislation can regulate the disclosure of MAC prices and MAC price methodologies, the kinds of drugs that a PBM can pay for at a MAC price, and the rights of pharmacies to appeal a MAC price established by a PBM. These laws could negatively affect the Company’s ability to establish MAC prices for generic drugs.

Formulary and Plan Design Regulation - A number of government entities regulate the administration of prescription drug benefits. HHS regulates how Medicare Part D formularies are developed and administered, including requiring the inclusion of all drugs in certain classes and categories, subject to limited exceptions. Under the ACA, CMS imposes drug coverage requirements for health plans required to cover essential health benefits, including plans offered through federal or state Public Exchanges. Additionally, the NAIC and health care accreditation agencies like NCQA and URAC have developed model acts and standards for formulary development that are often incorporated into government requirements. Many states regulate the scope of prescription drug coverage, as well as the delivery channels to receive prescriptions, for insurers, MCOs and Medicaid managed care plans. The increasing government regulation of formularies could significantly affect the Company’s ability to develop and administer formularies, pharmacy networks and other plan design features on behalf of its insurer, MCO and other clients. Similarly, some states prohibit health plan sponsors from implementing certain restrictive pharmacy benefit plan design features. This regulation could limit or preclude (i) limited networks, (ii) a requirement to use particular providers, (iii) copayment differentials among providers and (iv) formulary tiering practices.

Laws and Regulations Related to the Retail/LTC Segment

In addition to the laws and regulations discussed above that may affect multiple segments of the Company’s business, the Company is subject to federal, state and local statutes and regulations governing the operation of its Retail/LTC segment specifically. Among these are the following:

Retail Medical Clinics - States regulate retail medical clinics operated by nurse practitioners or physician assistants through physician oversight, clinic and lab licensure requirements and the prohibition of the corporate practice of medicine. A number of states have implemented or proposed laws or regulations that impact certain components of retail medical clinic operations such as physician oversight, signage, third party contracting requirements, bathroom facilities, and scope of services. These laws and regulations may affect the operation and expansion of the Company’s owned and managed retail medical clinics.

Other Laws - Other federal, state and local laws and regulations also impact the Company’s retail operations, including laws and regulations governing the practice of optometry, the practice of audiology, the provision of dietician services and the sale of durable medical equipment, contact lenses, eyeglasses, hearing aids and alcohol.

Laws and Regulations Related to the Health Care Benefits Segment

In addition to the laws and regulations discussed above that may affect multiple segments of the Company’s business, the Company is subject to federal, state, local and international statutes and regulations governing its Health Care Benefits segment specifically.

Overview - Differing approaches to state insurance regulation and varying enforcement philosophies may materially and adversely affect the Company’s ability to standardize its Health Care Benefits products and services across state lines. These laws and regulations, including the ACA, restrict how the Company conducts its business and result in additional burdens and costs to the Company. Significant areas of governmental regulation include premium rates and rating methodologies, underwriting rules and procedures, required benefits, sales and marketing activities, provider rates of payment, restrictions on health plans’ ability to limit providers’ participation in their networks and/or remove providers from their networks and financial condition (including reserves and minimum capital or risk based capital requirements). These laws and regulations are different in each jurisdiction and vary from product to product.

Each health insurer and HMO must file periodic financial and operating reports with the states in which it does business. In addition, health insurers and HMOs are subject to state examination and periodic license renewal. Applicable laws also restrict the ability of the Company’s regulated subsidiaries to pay dividends, and certain dividends require prior regulatory approval. In addition, some of the Company’s businesses and related activities may be subject to PPO, MCO, utilization review or TPA-related licensure requirements and regulations. These licensure requirements and regulations differ from state to state, but may contain provider network, contracting, product and rate, financial and reporting requirements. There also are laws and regulations that set specific standards for the Company’s delivery of services, payment of claims, fraud prevention, protection of consumer health information, and payment for covered benefits and services.

Required Regulatory Approvals - The Company must obtain and maintain regulatory approvals to price, market and administer many of its Health Care Benefits products. Supervisory agencies, including CMS, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight and the DOL, as well as state health, insurance, managed care and Medicaid agencies, have broad authority to take one or more of the following actions:

•Grant, suspend and revoke the Company’s licenses to transact business;

•Suspend or exclude the Company from participation in government programs;

•Suspend or limit the Company’s authority to market products;

•Regulate many aspects of the products and services the Company offers, including the pricing and underwriting of many of its products and services;

•Assess damages, fines and/or penalties;

•Terminate the Company’s contract with the government agency and/or withhold payments from the government agency to the Company;

•Impose retroactive adjustments to premiums and require the Company to pay refunds to the government, customers and/or members;

•Restrict the Company’s ability to conduct acquisitions or dispositions;

•Require the Company to maintain minimum capital levels in its subsidiaries and monitor its solvency and reserve adequacy;

•Regulate the Company’s investment activities on the basis of quality, diversification and other quantitative criteria; and/or

•Exclude the Company’s plans from participating in Public Exchanges if they are deemed to have a history of “unreasonable” premium rate increases or fail to meet other criteria set by HHS or the applicable state.

The Company’s operations, current and past business practices, current and past contracts, and accounts and other books and records are subject to routine, regular and special investigations, audits, examinations and reviews by, and from time to time the Company receives subpoenas and other requests for information from, federal, state and international supervisory and enforcement agencies, attorneys general and other state, federal and international governmental authorities and legislators.

Commercial Product Pricing and Underwriting Restrictions - Pricing and underwriting regulation by states limits the Company’s underwriting and rating practices and those of other health insurers, particularly for small employer groups, and varies by state. In general, these limitations apply to certain customer segments and limit the Company’s ability to set prices for new or renewing groups, or both, based on specific characteristics of the group or the group’s prior claim experience. In some states, these laws and regulations restrict the Company’s ability to price for the risk it assumes and/or reflect reasonable costs in the Company’s pricing.

The ACA expanded the premium rate review process by, among other things, requiring the Company’s Commercial Insured rates to be reviewed for “reasonableness” at either the state or the federal level. HHS established a federal premium rate review process that generally applies to proposed premium rate increases equal to or exceeding a federally (or lower state) specified threshold. HHS’s rate review process imposes additional public disclosure requirements as well as additional review on filings requesting premium rate increases equal to or exceeding this “reasonableness” threshold. These combined state and federal review requirements may prevent, further delay or otherwise affect the Company’s ability to price for the risk it assumes, which could adversely affect its MBRs and operating results, particularly during periods of increased utilization of medical services and/or medical cost trend or when such utilization and/or trend exceeds the Company’s projections.

The ACA also specifies minimum MLRs of 85% for large group Commercial products and 80% for individual and small group Commercial products. Because the ACA minimum MLRs are structured as “floors” for many of their requirements, states have the latitude to enact more stringent rules governing these restrictions. For Commercial products, states have and may adopt higher minimum MLR requirements, use more stringent definitions of “medical loss ratio,” incorporate minimum MLR requirements into prospective premium rate filings, require prior approval of premium rates or impose other requirements related to minimum MLR. Minimum MLR requirements and similar actions further limit the level of margin the Company can earn in its Insured Commercial products while leaving the Company exposed to medical costs that are higher than those reflected in its pricing. The Company also may be subject to significant fines, penalties, premium refunds and litigation if it fails to comply with minimum MLR laws and regulations.

In addition, the Company requested increases in its premium rates in its Commercial Health Care Benefits business for 2020 (including as a result of the reinstatement of the HIF for 2020 following the temporary suspension of the HIF for 2019) and expects to continue to request increases in those rates for 2021 and beyond in order to adequately price for projected medical cost trends, required expansions of coverage and rating limits, and significant assessments, fees and taxes imposed by the federal and state governments, including as a result of the ACA. The Company’s rates also must be adequate to reflect adverse selection in its products, particularly in small group Commercial products. These rate increases may be significant and thus heighten the risks of adverse publicity, adverse regulatory action and adverse selection and the likelihood that the Company’s requested premium rate increases will be denied, reduced or delayed, which could lead to operating margin compression.

Many of the laws and regulations governing the Company’s pricing and underwriting practices also limit the differentials in premium rates insurers and other carriers may charge between new and renewal business, and/or between groups based on differing characteristics. They may also require that carriers disclose to customers the basis on which the carrier establishes new business and renewal premium rates and limit the ability of a carrier to terminate customers’ coverage.

Medicaid Regulation - The Company is seeking to substantially grow its Medicaid, dual eligible and dual eligible special needs plan businesses over the next several years. As a result, the Company also is increasing its exposure to changes in government policy with respect to and/or regulation of the various Medicaid, dual eligible and dual eligible special needs plan programs in which the Company participates, including changes in the amounts payable to the Company under those programs.

Since 2017, Managed Medicaid products, including those the Company offers, are subject to a minimum federal MLR of 85%. A Medicaid managed care quality rating system and provider network adequacy requirements also apply to Medicaid products. Because the federal minimum MLR is structured as a “floor,” states have the latitude to enact more stringent rules governing these restrictions. For Managed Medicaid products, states may adopt higher minimum MLR requirements, use more stringent definitions of “medical loss ratio” or impose other requirements related to minimum MLR. Minimum MLR requirements and similar actions further limit the level of margin the Company can earn in its Insured Medicaid products while leaving the Company exposed to medical costs that are higher than those reflected in its pricing. The Company also may be subject to significant fines, penalties, premium refunds and litigation if it fails to comply with minimum MLR laws and regulations.

The future of the ACA, and the impact of Medicaid expansion under the ACA, are uncertain. States may opt out of the elements of the ACA requiring expansion of Medicaid coverage without losing their current federal Medicaid funding. To date, a number of states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid coverage to the higher eligibility levels contemplated by the ACA. In addition, the election of new governors and/or state legislatures may impact states’ previous decisions regarding Medicaid expansion. Proposals for substantial changes to federal funding of state Medicaid programs are likely to be considered in 2020 and beyond, including the possibility of converting federal Medicaid support to block grants (such as the block grant option outlined by CMS on January 30, 2020) and per capita caps on federal funding. Uncertainty regarding federal funding is causing and will continue to cause states to re-evaluate their Medicaid expansions and consider new assessments, fees and/or taxes on health plans. That re-evaluation and any changes to federal funding of state Medicaid programs may adversely affect Medicaid payment rates, the Company’s revenues and its Medicaid membership.

The economic aspects of the Medicaid, dual eligible and dual eligible special needs plan business vary from state to state and are subject to frequent change. Medicaid premiums are paid by each state and differ from state to state. The federal government and certain states also are considering proposals and legislation for Medicaid and dual eligible program reforms or redesigns, including restrictions on the collection of manufacturer’s rebates on pharmaceuticals by Medicaid MCOs and their contracted PBMs, further program, population and/or geographic expansions of risk-based managed care, increasing beneficiary cost-sharing or payment levels, and changes to benefits, reimbursement, eligibility criteria, provider network adequacy requirements (including requiring the inclusion of specified high cost providers in the Company’s networks) and program structure. In some states, current Medicaid and dual eligible funding and premium revenue may not be adequate for the Company to continue program participation. The Company’s Medicaid and dual eligible contracts with states (or sponsors of Medicaid managed care plans) are subject to cancellation by the state (or the sponsors of the managed care plans) after a short notice period without cause (e.g., when a state discontinues a managed care program) or in the event of insufficient state funding.

The Company’s Medicaid, dual eligible and dual eligible special needs plan products also are heavily regulated by CMS and state Medicaid agencies, which have the right to audit the Company’s performance to determine compliance with CMS contracts and regulations. The Company’s Medicaid products, dual eligible products and CHIP contracts also are subject to complex federal and state regulations and oversight by state Medicaid agencies regarding the services provided to Medicaid enrollees, payment for those services, network requirements (including mandatory inclusion of specified high-cost providers), and other aspects of these programs, and by external review organizations which audit Medicaid plans on behalf of state Medicaid agencies. The laws, regulations and contractual requirements applicable to the Company and other participants in Medicaid and dual eligible programs, including requirements that the Company submit encounter data to the applicable state agency, are extensive, complex and subject to change. The Company has invested significant resources to comply with these standards, and its Medicaid and dual eligible program compliance efforts will continue to require significant resources. CMS and/or state Medicaid agencies may fine the Company, withhold payments to the Company, seek premium and other refunds, terminate the Company’s existing contracts, elect not to award the Company new contracts or not to renew the Company’s existing contracts, prohibit the Company from continuing to market and/or enroll members in or refuse to automatically assign members to one or more of the Company’s Medicaid or dual eligible products, exclude the Company from participating in one or more Medicaid or dual eligible programs and/or institute other sanctions and/or civil monetary penalties against the Company if it fails to comply with CMS or state regulations or contractual requirements.

The Company cannot predict whether pending or future federal or state legislation or court proceedings will change various aspects of the Medicaid program, nor can it predict the impact those changes will have on its business operations or operating results, but the effects could be materially adverse.

Federal and State Reporting - The Company is subject to extensive financial and business reporting requirements, including penalties for inaccuracies and/or omissions, at both the federal and state level. The Company’s ability to comply with certain of these requirements depends on receipt of information from third parties that may not be readily available or reliably provided in all instances. The Company is and will continue to be required to modify its information systems, dedicate significant resources

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and incur significant expenses to comply with these requirements. However, the Company cannot eliminate the risks of unavailability of or errors in its reports.

Product Design and Administration and Sales Practices - State and/or federal regulatory scrutiny of health care benefit product design and administration and marketing and advertising practices, including the filing of insurance policy forms, the adequacy of provider networks, the accuracy of provider directories, and the adequacy of disclosure regarding products and their administration, is increasing as are the penalties being imposed for inappropriate practices. Medicare, Medicaid and dual eligible products and products offering more limited benefits in particular continue to attract increased regulatory scrutiny.

Guaranty Fund Assessments/Solvency Protection - Under guaranty fund laws existing in all states, insurers doing business in those states can be assessed (in most states up to prescribed limits) for certain obligations of insolvent insurance companies to policyholders and claimants. The life and health insurance guaranty associations in which the Company participates that operate under these laws respond to insolvencies of long-term care insurers as well as health insurers. The Company’s assessments generally are based on a formula relating to the Company’s health care premiums in the state compared to the premiums of other insurers. Certain states allow assessments to be recovered over time as offsets to premium taxes. Some states have similar laws relating to HMOs and/or other payors such as not-for-profit consumer governed health plans established under the ACA. While historically the Company has ultimately recovered more than half of guaranty fund assessments through statutorily permitted premium tax offsets, significant increases in assessments could lead to legislative and/or regulatory actions that limit future offsets.

Available Information

CVS Health Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in 1996. The corporate office is located at One CVS Drive, Woonsocket, Rhode Island 02895, telephone (401) 765-1500. CVS Health’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “CVS.” General information about the Company is available through the Company’s website at http://www.cvshealth.com. The Company’s financial press releases and filings with the SEC are available free of charge within the Investors section of the Company’s website at http://investors.cvshealth.com. In addition, the SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, such as the Company, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is http://www.sec.gov. The information on or linked to the Company’s website is neither a part of nor incorporated by reference in this 10-K or any of the Company’s other SEC filings.

In accordance with guidance provided by the SEC regarding use by a company of its websites and social media channels as a means to disclose material information to investors and to comply with its disclosure obligations under SEC Regulation FD, CVS Health Corporation (the “Registrant”) hereby notifies investors, the media and other interested parties that it intends to continue to use its media and investor relations website (http://investors.cvshealth.com/) and its Twitter feed (@CVSHealthIR) to publish important information about the Registrant, including information that may be deemed material to investors. The list of social media channels that the Registrant uses may be updated on its media and investor relations website from time to time. The Registrant encourages investors, the media, and other interested parties to review the information the Registrant posts on its website and social media channels as described above, in addition to information announced by the Registrant through its SEC filings, press releases and public conference calls and webcasts.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

You should carefully consider each of the following risks and uncertainties and all of the other information set forth in this 10-K. These risks and uncertainties and other factors may affect forward-looking statements, including those we make in this 10-K or elsewhere, such as in news releases or investor or analyst calls, meetings or presentations, on our websites or through our social media channels. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. There can be no assurance that we have identified all the risks that affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial also may adversely affect our businesses. Any of these risks or uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations and the expected results discussed in our forward-looking statements. You should not consider past results to be an indication of future performance.

If any of the following risks or uncertainties develops into actual events or if the circumstances described in the risks or uncertainties occur or continue to occur, those events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our businesses, operating results, cash flows, financial condition and/or stock price, among other effects on us. You should read the following section in conjunction with the MD&A, included in Item 7 of this 10-K, our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, included in Item 8 of this 10-K, and our “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” in this 10-K.

Summary

The following is a summary of the principal risks we face:

Risks Related to COVID-19

•The impact of COVID-19 on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition is uncertain, but the impact could be material and adverse.

•The impact of COVID-19 and the related testing and vaccination may result in us not being able to accurately forecast health care and other benefit costs, and we are uncertain that future health care and other benefits costs will not exceed our projections.

Risks Relating to Our Businesses

•Each of our segments operates in a highly competitive and evolving business environment.

•A change in our Health Care Benefits product mix may adversely affect our profit margins.

•Negative public perception of the industries in which we operate can adversely affect our businesses, operating results, cash flows and prospects.

•Failure to maintain or improve our relationships with our retail and specialty pharmacy customers may adversely affect our operating results.

•We face risks relating to the availability, pricing and safety profiles of prescription drugs that we purchase and sell.

•We may not be able to accurately forecast health care and other benefit costs.

•If actual claims in our Insured Health Care Benefits products exceed our estimates, our operating results could be materially adversely affected, and our ability to take timely corrective actions to limit future costs may be limited.

•We are exposed to risks relating to the solvency of other insurers.

Risks From Changes in Public Policy and Other Legal and Regulatory Risks

•We are subject to potential changes in public policy, laws and regulations, including reform of the U.S. health care system, which can adversely affect our businesses.

•If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could be subject to significant adverse regulatory actions or suffer brand and reputational harm.

•If our compliance or other systems and processes fail or are deemed inadequate, we may suffer brand and reputational harm and become subject to regulatory actions and/or litigation.

•The litigation and other adverse legal proceedings that we face are costly to defend, may result in changes in our business practices, harm our brand and reputation and adversely affect our businesses and operating results.

•The governmental audits, investigations and reviews to which we are subject could result in changes to our business practices and also could result in material refunds, fines, penalties, civil and/or criminal liabilities and other sanctions.

•Our litigation and regulatory risk profile are changing as we offer new products and services.

•We face unique regulatory and other challenges in our Medicare and Medicaid businesses.

•Programs funded in whole or in part by the U.S. federal government account for a significant portion of our revenues, and we expect that percentage to increase.

•We may not be able to obtain adequate premium rate increases in our Insured Health Care Benefits products, which would have an adverse effect on our revenues, MBRs and operating results.

•Minimum MLR rebate requirements limit the level of margin we can earn in our Insured Health Care Benefits products while leaving us exposed to higher than expected medical costs.

•Our operating results may be adversely affected by changes in laws and policies governing employers and by union organizing activity.

Risks Associated with Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures

•We may be unable to successfully integrate companies we acquire.

•The acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other inorganic growth opportunities we pursue may be unsuccessful.

•In order to complete a proposed acquisition, we may be required to divest certain portions of our business, for which we may not be able to obtain favorable pricing.

Risks Related to Our Operations

•Failure to meet customer expectations may harm our brand and reputation, our ability to retain and grow our customer base and membership and our operating results and cash flows.

•We can provide no assurance that we or our vendors will be able to detect, prevent or contain the effects of cyber attacks or other information security (including cybersecurity) risks or threats in the future.

•Our use and disclosure of members’, customers’ and other constituents’ sensitive information is subject to complex regulations at multiple levels, and we would be adversely affected if we or our business associates or other vendors fail to adequately protect members’, customers’ or other constituents’ sensitive information.

•Product liability, product recall or personal injury issues could damage our reputation and have a significant adverse effect on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition.

•We face significant competition in attracting and retaining talented employees, and managing succession for, and retention of, key executives is critical to our success.

•Sales of our products and services are dependent on our ability to attract and motivate internal sales personnel and independent third-party brokers, consultants and agents.

•Failure of our businesses to effectively collaborate could prevent us from maximizing our operating results.

•The failure or disruption of our information technology systems or infrastructure to support our businesses could adversely affect our reputation, businesses, operating results and cash flows.

•Pursuing multiple initiatives simultaneously presents challenges to maintaining, continuing to develop and improve an effective information technology system.

•We are subject to payment-related risks that could increase our operating costs, expose us to fraud or theft, subject us to potential liability and disrupt our business operations.

•Both our and our vendors’ operations are subject to a variety of business continuity hazards and risks.

Financial Risks

•We would be adversely affected if we do not effectively deploy our capital. Downgrades or potential downgrades in our credit ratings could adversely affect our brand and reputation, businesses, operating results, cash flows and financial condition.

•Goodwill and other intangible assets could, in the future, become impaired.

•Adverse conditions in the U.S. and global capital markets can significantly and adversely affect the value of our investments.

•Our significant indebtedness has increased our consolidated interest expense and could adversely affect our business flexibility and increase our borrowing costs.

Risks Related to Our Relationships with Manufacturers, Providers, Suppliers and Vendors

•We face risks relating to the market availability, pricing, suppliers and safety profiles of prescription drugs and other products that we purchase and sell.

•Our operating results may be adversely affected if we are unable to contract with providers on competitive terms and develop and maintain attractive networks with high quality providers.

•If our service providers fail to meet their contractual obligations to us or to comply with applicable laws or regulations, we may be exposed to brand and reputational harm, litigation and/or regulatory action.

•We may experience increased medical and other benefit costs, litigation risk and customer and member dissatisfaction when providers that do not have contracts with us render services to our Health Care Benefits members.

•Continuing consolidation and integration among providers and other suppliers may increase our medical and other covered benefits costs, make it difficult for us to compete in certain geographies and create new competitors.

Risks Related to COVID-19

The spread of, impact of and response to COVID-19 underscores and amplifies certain risks we face. The impact COVID-19 will have on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition is uncertain, but the impact could be material and adverse.

COVID-19 has spread to every state in the U.S., has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and has severely impacted, and is expected to continue to severely impact, the economies of the U.S. and other countries around the world.

The legislative and regulatory environment governing our businesses is dynamic and changing frequently, including the Families First Act, the CARES Act and mandated increases to the medical services we must pay for without a corresponding increase in the premiums we receive in our Health Care Benefits Insured products. As a result of COVID-19, including legislative and/or regulatory responses to COVID-19, the premiums we charge in our Insured Health Care Benefits products may prove to be insufficient to cover the cost of medical services delivered to our Insured medical members, which may increase significantly as a result of higher utilization rates of medical facilities and services and other increases in associated hospital and pharmaceutical costs.

Federal, state and local governmental policies and initiatives to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, including shelter-in-place orders and social distancing directives, may not effectively combat the severity and/or duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and have resulted in, among other things, a reduction in utilization that is discretionary, the cancellation of elective medical procedures, reduced customer traffic and front store sales in our retail pharmacies, our customers being ordered to close or severely curtail their operations, the adoption of work-from-home policies and a reduction in diagnostic reporting due to reductions in health care provider visits and restrictions on our access to providers’ medical records, all of which impact our businesses. Among other impacts of these policies and initiatives on our businesses, we expect changes in medical claims submission patterns and an adverse impact on (i) drug utilization due to the reduction in discretionary visits with providers; (ii) front store sales as a result of reduced customer traffic in our retail pharmacies due to shelter-in-place orders and COVID-19 related unemployment; (iii) medical membership in our Health Care Benefits segment and covered lives in our PBM clients due to reductions in workforce at our existing customers (including due to business failures) as well as reduced willingness to change benefits providers by prospective customers; (iv) benefit costs due to COVID-19 related support programs we have put in place for our medical members and mandated increases to the medical services we must pay for without a corresponding increase in the premiums we receive in our Insured Health Care Benefits products; and (v) the amount, timing and collectability of payments to the Company from customers, clients, government payers and members as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on them. Over time, these policies and initiatives also may cause us to experience increased benefit costs and/or decreased revenues in our Health Care Benefits segment if, as a result of our medical members not seeing their providers as a result of COVID-19, we are unable to implement clinical initiatives to manage benefit costs and chronic conditions of our medical members and appropriately document their risk profiles.

In addition, in response to COVID-19, during the first half of 2020, we began to offer our medical members expanded benefit coverage and became obligated by governmental action to provide other additional coverage. This expanded benefit coverage is being provided without a corresponding increase in the premiums we receive in our Insured Health Care Benefits products. We also are taking actions designed to help provide financial and administrative relief for the health care provider community. Such measures and any further steps we take or are required to take to expand or otherwise modify the services delivered to our Health Care Benefits members, provide relief for the health care provider community, or in connection with the relaxation of shelter-in-place orders and social distancing directives and other restrictions on movement and economic activity intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including the potential for widespread testing and vaccination, as a component of lifting those measures, could adversely impact our benefit costs, MBR and operating results.

The various initiatives we have implemented to slow and/or reduce the impact of COVID-19, such as colleagues working remotely and installing protective equipment in our retail pharmacies, and the COVID-19-related support programs we have put in place for our customers, medical members and colleagues have increased our operating expenses and reduced the efficiency of our operations. Our operating results will continue to be adversely affected so long as these initiatives continue or if they are expanded. In addition, the adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad caused by COVID-19 have had, and may continue to have, an adverse impact on our net investment income and the value of our investment portfolio.

The spread of COVID-19, or actions taken to mitigate its spread, could have material and adverse effects on our ability to operate our businesses effectively, including as a result of the complete or partial closure of facilities, labor shortages and/or financial difficulties experienced by third-party service providers. Disruptions in our supply chains, our distribution chains and/

or public and private infrastructure, including communications and financial services, could materially and adversely impact our business operations. We have transitioned a significant subset of our colleagues to a remote work environment in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, as have a significant number of our third-party service providers, which may amplify certain risks to our businesses, including an increased demand for information technology resources, increased risk of phishing and other cybersecurity attacks, increased risk of unauthorized dissemination of sensitive personal information or proprietary or confidential information about us or our medical members or other third-parties and increased risk of business interruptions.

While the FDA has authorized some COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and the severity and duration of the pandemic and scope and intensity of the governmental response to it are unknown at this time. We believe COVID-19’s impact on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition primarily will be driven by the geographies impacted and the severity and duration of the pandemic; the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. and global economies and consumer behavior and health care utilization patterns; and the timing, scope and impact of stimulus legislation as well as other federal, state and local governmental responses to the pandemic. Those primary drivers are beyond our knowledge and control. As a result, the impact COVID-19 will have on our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition is uncertain, but the impact could be adverse and material. COVID-19 also may result in legal and regulatory proceedings, investigations and claims against us.

A number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including COVID-19 and related testing and vaccination, contribute to rising health care and other benefit costs. We may not be able to accurately forecast health care and other benefit costs, which could adversely affect our Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results. There can be no assurance that future health care and other benefits costs will not exceed our projections.

As a result of COVID-19, the current economic environment is adverse and less predictable than recently experienced, which has caused and may continue to cause unanticipated and significant volatility in our health care and other benefits costs, including COVID-19 related testing and vaccination and post-acute care skilled nursing facility and behavioral health costs. On January 21, 2021, the President of the United States issued an executive order to support government efforts to expand access, availability and use of COVID-19 diagnostic, screening and surveillance and addressed the cost of COVID-19 testing by facilitating COVID-19 testing free of charge to those who lack comprehensive health insurance and clarifying group health plans’ and health insurance issuers’ obligations to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing. In addition, the timing of vaccine administration to the general public and related costs as well as the identification of new, more infectious strains of the COVID-19 virus and whether the vaccines will be effective against such new strains are uncertain and may impact our MBR. Premiums for our Insured Health Care Benefits products, which comprised 92% of our Health Care Benefits revenues for 2020, are priced in advance based on our forecasts of health care and other benefit costs during a fixed premium period, which is generally twelve months. These forecasts are typically developed several months before the fixed premium period begins, are influenced by historical data (and recent historical data in particular), are dependent on our ability to anticipate and detect medical cost trends and changes in our members’ behavior and health care utilization patterns and medical claim submission patterns and require a significant degree of judgment. For example, our revenue on Medicare policies is based on bids submitted in June of the year before the contract year. Cost increases in excess of our projections cannot be recovered in the fixed premium period through higher premiums. As a result, our profits are particularly sensitive to the accuracy of our forecasts of the increases in health care and other benefit costs that we expect to occur and our ability to anticipate and detect medical cost trends. For 2021, those forecasts include adjustments made to pricing based on prospective expectations for liabilities due to testing, vaccines, direct COVID-19 treatment and deferred care. Risk-adjusted revenue has been adjusted for deferred care, and forecasted enrollment considers assumptions about the economic environment, though COVID-19 related impacts remain uncertain. During periods such as 2020 and 2021 when health care and other benefit costs, utilization and/or medical costs trends experience significant volatility and medical claim submission patterns are changing rapidly as a result of COVID-19, accurately detecting, forecasting, managing, reserving and pricing for our (and our self-insured customers’) medical cost trends and incurred and future health care and other benefits costs is more challenging. There can be no assurance regarding the accuracy of the health care or other benefit cost projections reflected in our pricing, and our health care and other benefit costs (including COVID-19 related testing and vaccination and post-acute care skilled nursing facility and behavioral health costs) are affected by COVID-19 and other external events over which we have no control. Even relatively small differences between predicted and actual health care and other benefit costs as a percentage of premium revenues can result in significant adverse changes in our Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results.

A number of factors contribute to rising health care and other benefit costs, including COVID-19, previously uninsured members entering the health care system, changes in members’ behavior and health care utilization patterns, turnover in our membership, additional government mandated benefits or other regulatory changes (including under the Families First Act and the CARES Act), changes in the health status of our members, the aging of the population and other changing demographic characteristics, advances in medical technology, increases in the number and cost of prescription drugs (including specialty

pharmacy drugs and ultra-high cost drugs and therapies), direct-to-consumer marketing by drug manufacturers, the increasing influence of social media on our members’ health care utilization and other behaviors, changes in health care practices and general economic conditions (such as inflation and employment levels). In addition, government-imposed limitations on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to health plans and providers have caused the private sector to bear a greater share of increasing health care and other benefits costs over time, and future amendments or repeal or replacement of the ACA that increase the uninsured population may amplify this problem. Other factors that affect our health care and other benefit costs include epidemics or other pandemics, changes as a result of the ACA, changes to or the discontinuation of the ACA and other changes in the regulatory environment, the evolution toward a consumer driven business model, new technologies, influenza-related health care costs (which may be substantial), clusters of high-cost cases, health care provider and member fraud, and numerous other factors that are or may be beyond our control.

Furthermore, if we are not able to accurately and promptly anticipate and detect medical cost trends or accurately estimate the cost of incurred but not yet reported claims or reported claims that have not been paid, our ability to take timely corrective actions to limit future health care costs and reflect our current benefit cost experience in our pricing process may be limited, which would further amplify the extent of any adverse impact on our operating results. These risks are particularly acute during periods such as 2020 and 2021 when health care and other benefit costs, utilization and/or medical cost trends experience significant volatility and medical claim submission patterns are changing rapidly as a result of COVID-19. Such risks are further magnified by the ACA and other existing and future legislation and regulations that limit our ability to price for our projected and/or experienced increases in utilization and/or medical cost trends.

There can be no assurance that future health care and other benefits costs will not exceed our projections.

Adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad can materially and adversely impact our businesses, operating results, cash flows and financial condition, and we do not expect these conditions to improve in the near future.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the availability and cost of credit and other capital, higher unemployment rates and other factors have contributed to adverse conditions in the global economy and significantly diminished expectations for the global economy, and particularly the U.S. economy, at least through the end of 2020 and possibly longer. Our customers, medical providers and the other companies with which we do business are generally headquartered in the U.S.; however, many of our largest customers are global companies with operations around the world. As a result, adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad, including those caused by COVID-19, can materially and adversely impact our businesses, operating results, cash flows and financial condition, including:

•In our Pharmacy Services segment, by causing drug utilization to decline, reducing demand for PBM services and adversely affecting the financial health of our PBM clients.

•In our Retail/LTC segment, by causing drug utilization to decline, changing consumer purchasing power, preferences and/or spending patterns leading to reduced consumer demand for products sold in our stores and adversely affecting the financial health of our LTC pharmacy customers.

•By causing our existing customers to reduce workforces (including due to business failures), which would reduce our revenues, the number of covered lives in our PBM clients and/or the number of members our Health Care Benefits segment serves.

•By causing our clients and customers and potential clients and customers, particularly those with the most employees or members, and state and local governments, to force us to compete more vigorously on factors such as price and service, including service, discount and other performance guarantees, to retain or obtain their business.

•By causing customers and potential customers of our Retail/LTC and Health Care Benefits segments to purchase fewer products and/or products that generate less profit for us than the ones they currently purchase or otherwise would have purchased.

•By causing customers and potential customers of our Health Care Benefits segment, particularly smaller employers and individuals, to forego obtaining or renewing their health and other coverage with us.

•In our Health Care Benefits segment, by causing unanticipated increases and volatility in utilization of medical and other covered services, including COVID-19 related testing, vaccination and behavioral health services, by our medical members, changes in medical claim submission patterns and/or increases in medical unit costs and/or provider behavior, each of which would increase our costs and limit our ability to accurately detect, forecast, manage, reserve and price for our (and our self-insured customers’) medical cost trends and incurred and future health care and other benefits costs.

•By increasing medical unit costs and causing changes in provider behavior in our Health Care Benefits segment as hospitals and other providers attempt to maintain revenue levels in their efforts to adjust to their own COVID-19-related and other economic challenges.

•By weakening the ability or perceived ability of the issuers and/or guarantors of the debt or other securities we hold in our investment portfolio to perform on their obligations to us, which could result in defaults in those securities and has reduced, and may further reduce, the value of those securities and has created, and may continue to create, net realized capital losses for us that reduce our operating results.

•By weakening the ability of our customers, including self-insured customers in our Health Care Benefits segment, medical providers and the other companies with which we do business as well as our medical members to perform their obligations to us or causing them not to perform those obligations, either of which could reduce our operating results.

•By weakening the ability of our former subsidiaries and/or their purchasers to satisfy their lease obligations that we have guaranteed and causing the Company to be required to satisfy those obligations.

•By weakening the financial condition of other insurers, including long-term care insurers and life insurers, which increases the risk that we will receive significant assessments for obligations of insolvent insurers to policyholders and claimants.

•By causing, over time, inflation that could cause interest rates to increase and thereby increase our interest expense and reduce our operating results, as well as decrease the value of the debt securities we hold in our investment portfolio, which would reduce our operating results and/or adversely affect our financial condition.

Furthermore, reductions in workforce by our customers can cause unanticipated increases in the health care and other benefits costs of our Health Care Benefits segment. For example, our business associated with members who have elected to receive benefits under Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (known as “COBRA”) typically has an MBR that is significantly higher than our overall Commercial MBR.

Risks Relating to Our Businesses

Each of our segments operates in a highly competitive and evolving business environment; and gross margins in the industries in which we compete may decline.

Each of our segments, Pharmacy Services, which includes our pharmacy benefit management (“PBM”) business, Retail/LTC, and Health Care Benefits, operates in a highly competitive and evolving business environment. Specifically:

•As competition increases in the geographies in which we operate, including competition from new entrants, a significant increase in price compression and/or reimbursement pressures could occur, and this could require us to reevaluate our pricing structures to remain competitive.

•The competitive success of our Pharmacy Services segment is dependent on our ability to establish and maintain contractual relationships with network pharmacies as PBM clients evaluate adopting narrow or restricted retail pharmacy networks.

•The competitive success of our Retail/LTC segment and our specialty pharmacy operations is dependent on our ability to establish and maintain contractual relationships with PBMs and other payors on acceptable terms as the payors’ clients evaluate adopting narrow or restricted retail pharmacy networks.

•In our PBM business, we maintain contractual relationships with brand name drug manufacturers that provide for purchase discounts and/or rebates on drugs dispensed by pharmacies in our retail network and by our specialty and mail order pharmacies (all or a portion of which may be passed on to clients). Manufacturer’s rebates often depend on a PBM’s ability to meet contractual requirements, including the placement of a manufacturer’s products on the PBM’s formularies. If we lose our relationship with one or more drug manufacturers, or if the discounts or rebates provided by drug manufacturers decline, our operating results, cash flows and/or prospects could be adversely affected.

•The PBM industry has been experiencing price compression as a result of competitive pressures and increased client demands for lower prices, increased revenue sharing, including sharing in a larger portion of rebates received from drug manufacturers, enhanced service offerings and/or higher service levels. Marketplace dynamics and regulatory changes also have adversely affected our ability to offer plan sponsors pricing that includes the use of retail “differential” or “spread,” which could adversely affect our future profitability, and we expect these trends to continue.

•Our retail pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and LTC pharmacy operations have been affected by reimbursement pressure caused by competition, including client demands for lower prices, generic drug pricing, earlier than expected generic drug introductions and network reimbursement pressure. If we are unable to increase our prices to reflect, or otherwise mitigate

the impact of, increasing costs, our profitability will be adversely affected. If we are unable to limit our price increases, we may lose customers to competitors with more favorable pricing, adversely affecting our revenues and operating results.

•A shift in the mix of our pharmacy prescription volume towards programs offering lower reimbursement rates as a result of competition or otherwise could adversely affect our margins, including the ongoing shift in pharmacy mix towards 90-day prescriptions at retail and the ongoing shift in pharmacy mix towards Medicare Part D prescriptions.

•PBM client contracts often are for a period of approximately three years. However, PBM clients may require early or periodic re-negotiation of pricing prior to contract expiration. PBM clients are generally well informed, can move between us and our competitors and often seek competing bids prior to expiration of their contracts. We are therefore under pressure to contain price increases despite being faced with increasing drug costs and increasing operating costs. If we are unable to increase our prices to reflect, or otherwise mitigate the impact of, increasing costs, our profitability will be adversely affected. If we are unable to limit our price increases, we may lose customers to competitors with more favorable pricing, adversely affecting our revenues and operating results.

•The operating results and margins of our LTC business are further affected by the increased efforts of health care payors to negotiate reduced or capitated pricing arrangements and by the financial health of, and purchases and sales of, our LTC customers.

•In our Health Care Benefits segment we are seeking to substantially grow our Medicaid, dual eligible and dual eligible special needs plan membership over the next several years. In many instances, to acquire and retain our government customers’ business, we must bid against our competitors in a highly competitive environment. Winning bids often are challenged successfully by unsuccessful bidders, and may also be withdrawn or cancelled by the issuing agency.

•Customer contracts in our Health Care Benefits segment are generally for a period of one year, and our customers have considerable flexibility in moving between us and our competitors. One of the key factors on which we compete for customers, especially in uncertain economic environments, is overall cost. We are therefore under pressure to contain premium price increases despite being faced with increasing health care and other benefit costs and increasing operating costs. If we are unable to increase our prices to reflect, or otherwise mitigate the impact of, increasing costs, our profitability will be adversely affected. If we are unable to limit our price increases, we may lose members to competitors with more favorable pricing, adversely affecting our revenues and operating results. In response to rising prices, our customers may elect to self-insure or to reduce benefits in order to limit increases in their benefit costs. Alternatively, our customers may purchase different types of products from us that are less profitable. Such elections may result in reduced membership in our more profitable Insured products and/or lower premiums for our Insured products, which may adversely affect our revenues and operating results, although such elections also may reduce our health care and other benefit costs. In addition, our Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP products are subject to termination without cause, periodic re-bid, rate adjustment and program redesign, as customers seek to contain their benefit costs, particularly in an uncertain economy, and our exposure to this risk is increasing as we grow our Government products membership. These actions may adversely affect our membership, revenues and operating results.

•We requested increases in our premium rates in our Commercial Health Care Benefits business for 2021 and expect to continue to request increases in those rates for 2022 and beyond in order to adequately price for projected medical cost trends, required expansions of coverage and rating limits, and significant assessments, fees and taxes imposed by federal and state governments, including as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “ACA”). Our rates also must be adequate to reflect the risk that our products will be selected by people with a higher risk profile or utilization rate than the pool of participants we anticipated when we established pricing for the applicable products (also known as “adverse selection”), particularly in small group Commercial products. These rate increases may be significant and thus heighten the risks of adverse publicity, adverse regulatory action and adverse selection and the likelihood that our requested premium rate increases will be denied, reduced or delayed, which could lead to operating margin compression.

In addition, competitors in each of our businesses may offer services and pricing terms that we may not be willing or able to offer. Competition also may come from new entrants and other sources in the future. Unless we can demonstrate enhanced value to our clients through innovative product and service offerings in the rapidly changing health care industry, we may be unable to remain competitive.

Disruptive innovation by existing or new competitors could alter the competitive landscape in the future and require us to accurately identify and assess such alterations and make timely and effective changes to our strategies and business model to compete effectively. For example, decisions to buy our Pharmacy Services and Health Care Benefits products and services increasingly are made or influenced by consumers, either through direct purchasing (e.g., Medicare Advantage plans and PDPs) or through public health insurance exchanges (“Public Exchanges”) and private health insurance exchanges (together with Public Exchanges, collectively, “Insurance Exchanges”) that allow individual choice. Consumers also are increasingly seeking to access consumer goods and health care products and services locally and through other direct channels such as mobile

devices and websites. To compete effectively in the consumer-driven marketplace, we will be required to develop or acquire new capabilities, attract new talent and develop new service and distribution relationships that respond to consumer needs and preferences.

Changes in marketplace dynamics or the actions of competitors or manufacturers, including industry consolidation, the emergence of new competitors and strategic alliances, and decisions to exclude us from new narrow or restricted retail pharmacy networks could materially and adversely affect our businesses, operating results, cash flows and/or prospects.

A change in our Health Care Benefits product mix may adversely affect our profit margins.

Our Insured Health Care Benefits products that involve greater potential risk generally tend to be more profitable than our ASC products. Historically, smaller employer groups have been more likely to purchase Insured Health Care Benefits products because such purchasers are generally unable or unwilling to bear greater liability for health care expenditures, although over the last several years even relatively small employers have moved to ASC products. We also serve, and expect to grow our business with, government-sponsored programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, that are subject to competitive bids and have lower profit margins than our Commercial Insured Health Care Benefits products. A shift of enrollees from more profitable products to less profitable products could have a material adverse effect on the Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results.

Negative public perception of the industries in which we operate, or of our industries’ or our practices, can adversely affect our businesses, operating results, cash flows and prospects.

Our brand and reputation are two of our most important assets, and the industries in which we operate have been and are negatively perceived by the public from time to time. Negative publicity may come as a result of adverse media coverage, litigation against us and other industry participants, the ongoing public debates over drug pricing, PBMs, government involvement in drug pricing and purchasing, the future of the ACA, “surprise” medical bills, governmental hearings and/or investigations, actual or perceived shortfalls regarding our industries’ or our own products and/or business practices (including PBM operations, drug pricing and insurance coverage determinations) and social media and other media relations activities. Negative publicity also may come from a failure to meet customer expectations for consistent, high quality and accessible care. This risk may increase as we continue to offer products and services that make greater use of data and as our business model becomes more focused on delivering health care to consumers.

In addition, by working with the U.S. government in the distribution and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Company may be subject to negative publicity related to the government’s actions in response to COVID-19 that are outside of the ability of the Company to control.

Negative public perception and/or publicity of our industries in general, or of us or our key vendors, brokers or product distribution networks in particular, can further increase our costs of doing business and adversely affect our operating results and our stock price by:

•adversely affecting our brand and reputation;

•adversely affecting our ability to market and sell our products and/or services and/or retain our existing customers and members;

•requiring us to change our products and/or services;

•reducing or restricting the revenue we can receive for our products and/or services; and/or

•increasing or significantly changing the regulatory and legislative requirements with which we must comply.

We must maintain and improve our relationships with our retail and specialty pharmacy customers and increase the demand for our products and services, including proprietary brands.

The success of our businesses depends in part on customer loyalty, superior customer service and our ability to persuade customers to frequent our retail stores and online sites and to purchase products in additional categories and our proprietary brands. Failure to timely identify or effectively respond to changing consumer preferences and spending patterns, and evolving demographic mixes in the communities we serve, an inability to expand the products being purchased by our clients and customers, or the failure or inability to obtain or offer particular categories of products could adversely affect our relationship with our customers and clients and the demand for our products and services and could result in excess inventories of products.

We offer our retail customers proprietary brand products that are available exclusively at our retail stores and through our online retail sites. The sale of proprietary products subjects us to unique risks including potential product liability risks, mandatory or voluntary product recalls, potential supply chain and distribution chain disruptions for raw materials and finished products, our ability to successfully protect our intellectual property rights and the rights of applicable third parties, and other risks generally encountered by entities that source, market and sell private-label products. We also face similar risks for the other products we sell in our retail operations, including supply chain and distribution chain disruption risk. Any failure to adequately address some or all of these risks could have an adverse effect on our retail business, operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition. Additionally, an increase in the sales of our proprietary brands may adversely affect our sales of products owned by our suppliers and adversely impact certain of our supplier relationships. Our ability to locate qualified, economically stable suppliers who satisfy our requirements, and to acquire sufficient products in a timely and effective manner, is critical to ensuring, among other things, that customer confidence is not diminished. Any failure to develop sourcing relationships with a broad and deep supplier base could adversely affect our operating results and erode customer loyalty.

We also could be adversely affected if we fail to identify or effectively respond to changes in marketplace dynamics. For example, specialty pharmacy represents a significant and growing proportion of prescription drug spending in the U.S., a significant portion of which is dispensed outside of traditional retail pharmacies. Because our specialty pharmacy business focuses on complex and high-cost medications, many of which are made available by manufacturers to a limited number of pharmacies (so-called limited distribution drugs) that serve a relatively limited universe of patients, the future growth of our specialty pharmacy business depends largely upon expanding our access to key drugs and penetration in certain treatment categories. Any contraction of our base of patients or reduction in demand for the prescriptions we currently dispense could have an adverse effect on our specialty pharmacy business, operating results and cash flows.

We face risks relating to the availability, pricing and safety profiles of prescription drugs that we purchase and sell.

The profitability of our Retail/LTC and Pharmacy Services segments is dependent upon the utilization of prescription drug products. We dispense significant volumes of brand name and generic drugs from our retail, LTC, specialty and mail order pharmacies, and the retail pharmacies in our PBM’s network also dispense significant volumes of brand name and generic drugs. Our revenues, operating results and cash flows may decline if physicians cease writing prescriptions for drugs or the utilization of drugs is reduced, including due to:

•increased safety risk profiles or regulatory restrictions;

•manufacturing or other supply issues;

•certain products being withdrawn by their manufacturers or transitioned to over-the-counter products;

•future FDA rulings restricting the supply or increasing the cost of products;

•the introduction of new and successful prescription drugs or lower-priced generic alternatives to existing brand name products; or

•inflation in the price of brand name drugs.

In addition, increased utilization of generic drugs (which normally yield a higher gross profit rate than equivalent brand name drugs) has resulted in pressure to decrease reimbursement payments to retail, mail order, specialty and LTC pharmacies for generic drugs, causing a reduction in our margins on sales of generic drugs. Consolidation within the generic drug manufacturing industry and other external factors may enhance the ability of manufacturers to sustain or increase pricing of generic drugs and diminish our ability to negotiate reduced generic drug acquisition costs. Any inability to offset increased brand name or generic prescription drug acquisition costs or to modify our activities to lessen the financial impact of such increased costs could have a significant adverse effect on our operating results.

A number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, contribute to rising health care and other benefit costs. We may not be able to accurately forecast health care and other benefit costs, which could adversely affect our Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results.

Premiums for our Insured Health Care Benefits products, which comprised 92% of our Health Care Benefits revenues for 2020, are priced in advance based on our forecasts of health care and other benefit costs during a fixed premium period, which is generally one year. These forecasts are typically developed several months before the fixed premium period begins, are influenced by historical data (and recent historical data in particular), are dependent on our ability to anticipate and detect medical cost trends and changes in our members’ behavior and health care utilization patterns and require a significant degree of judgment. For example, our revenue on Medicare policies is based on bids submitted in June of the year before the contract year. Cost increases in excess of our projections cannot be recovered in the fixed premium period through higher premiums. As

a result, our profits are particularly sensitive to the accuracy of our forecasts and our ability to anticipate and detect medical cost trends. Even relatively small differences between predicted and actual health care and other benefit costs as a percentage of premium revenues can result in significant adverse changes in our operating results.

A number of factors contribute to rising health care and other benefit costs, including previously uninsured members entering the health care system, changes in members’ behavior and health care utilization patterns, turnover in our membership, additional government mandated benefits or other regulatory changes, changes in the health status of our members, the aging of the population and other changing demographic characteristics, advances in medical technology, increases in the number and cost of prescription drugs (including specialty pharmacy drugs and ultra-high cost drugs and therapies), direct-to-consumer marketing by drug manufacturers, the increasing influence of social media on our members’ health care utilization and other behaviors, changes in health care practices and general economic conditions (such as inflation and employment levels). In addition, government-imposed limitations on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to health plans and providers have caused the private sector to bear a greater share of increasing health care and other benefits costs over time, and future amendments or repeal or replacement of the ACA that increase the uninsured population may exacerbate this problem. Other factors that affect our health care and other benefit costs include changes as a result of the ACA, changes to the ACA and other changes in the regulatory environment, the evolution toward a consumer driven business model, new technologies, influenza related health care costs (which may be substantial and higher than we project), clusters of high-cost cases, epidemics or pandemics, health care provider and member fraud, and numerous other factors that are or may be beyond our control. For example, the 2020-2021 influenza season was impacted by efforts taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19; and the 2019-2020 influenza season had an earlier than average start and had a higher incidence of influenza than the 2018-2019 influenza season.

Our Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results and competitiveness depend in large part on our ability to appropriately manage future health care and other benefit costs through underwriting criteria, product design, provider network configuration, negotiation of favorable provider contracts and medical management programs. Our medical cost management programs may not be successful and may have a smaller impact on health care and benefit costs than we expect. The factors described above may adversely affect our ability to predict and manage health care and other benefit costs, which can adversely affect our competitiveness and operating results.

The reserves we hold for expected claims in our Insured Health Care Benefits products are based on estimates that involve an extensive degree of judgment and are inherently variable. Any reserve, including a premium deficiency reserve, may be insufficient. If actual claims exceed our estimates, our operating results could be materially adversely affected, and our ability to take timely corrective actions to limit future costs may be limited.

A large portion of health care claims are not submitted to us until after the end of the quarter in which services are rendered by providers to our members. Our reported health care costs payable for any particular period reflect our estimates of the ultimate cost of such claims as well as claims that have been reported to us but not yet paid. We also must estimate the amount of rebates payable under the MLR rules of the ACA, CMS and the OPM and the amounts payable by us to, and receivable by us from, the United States federal government under the ACA’s remaining premium stabilization program.

Our estimates of health care costs payable are based on a number of factors, including those derived from historical claim experience, but this estimation process also makes use of extensive judgment. Considerable variability is inherent in such estimates, and the accuracy of the estimates is highly sensitive to changes in medical claims submission and processing patterns and/or procedures, turnover and other changes in membership, changes in product mix, changes in the utilization of medical and/or other covered services, including prescription drugs, changes in medical cost trends, changes in our medical management practices and the introduction of new benefits and products. We estimate health care costs payable periodically, and any resulting adjustments, including premium deficiency reserves, are reflected in current-period operating results within benefit costs. For example, as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, we established a premium deficiency reserve of $11 million and $4 million, respectively, related to Medicaid products in the Health Care Benefits segment. A worsening (or improvement) of health care cost trend rates or changes in claim payment patterns from those that we assumed in estimating health care costs payable as of December 31, 2020 would cause these estimates to change in the near term, and such a change could be material.

Furthermore, if we are not able to accurately and promptly anticipate and detect medical cost trends or accurately estimate the cost of incurred but not yet reported claims or reported claims that have not been paid, our ability to take timely corrective actions to limit future health care costs and reflect our current benefit cost experience in our pricing process may be limited, which would further exacerbate the extent of any adverse impact on our operating results. These risks are particularly acute during and following periods when utilization of medical and/or other covered services and/or medical cost trends are below recent historical levels and in products where there is significant turnover in our membership each year, and such risks are

further magnified by the ACA and other legislation and regulations that limit our ability to price for our projected and/or experienced increases in utilization and/or medical cost trends.

Our operating results are affected by the health of the economy in general and in the geographies we serve.

Our businesses are affected by the U.S. economy and consumer confidence in general and in the geographies we serve, including various economic factors, including inflation and changes in consumer purchasing power, preferences and/or spending patterns. An unfavorable, uncertain or volatile economic environment could cause a decline in drug utilization, an increase in health care utilization and dampen demand for PBM services as well as consumer demand for products sold in our retail stores.

If our customers’ operating and financial performance deteriorates, or they are unable to make scheduled payments or obtain adequate financing, our customers may not be able to pay timely, or may delay payment of, amounts owed to us. Any inability of our customers to pay us for our products and services may adversely affect our businesses, operating results and cash flows. In addition, both state and federal government sponsored payers, as a result of budget deficits or spending reductions, may suspend payments or seek to reduce their health care expenditures resulting in our customers delaying payments to us or renegotiating their contracts with us.

Further, economic conditions including interest rate fluctuations, changes in capital market conditions and regulatory changes may affect our ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms, our ability to secure suitable store locations under acceptable terms, our ability to execute sale-leaseback transactions under acceptable terms and the value of our investment portfolio. Adverse changes in the U.S. economy, consumer confidence and economic conditions could have an adverse effect on our businesses and financial results. This adverse effect could be further exacerbated by the increasing prevalence of high deductible health plans and health plan designs favoring co-insurance over co-payments as members and other consumers may decide to postpone, or not to seek, medical treatment which may lead them to incur more expensive medical treatment in the future and/or decrease our prescription volumes.

In addition, our Health Care Benefits membership remains concentrated in certain U.S. geographies and in certain industries. Unfavorable changes in health care or other benefit costs or reimbursement rates or increased competition in those geographic areas where our membership is concentrated could therefore have a disproportionately adverse effect on our Health Care Benefits segment’s operating results. Our Health Care Benefits membership has been and may continue to be affected by workforce reductions by our customers due to adverse and/or uncertain general economic conditions, especially in the U.S. geographies and industries where our membership is concentrated. As a result, we may not be able to profitably grow and diversify our Health Care Benefits membership geographically, by product type or by customer industry, and our revenues and operating results may be disproportionately affected by adverse changes affecting our customers.

We are exposed to risks relating to the solvency of other insurers.

We are subject to assessments under guaranty fund laws existing in all states for obligations of insolvent insurance companies (including long-term care insurers), HMOs, ACA co-ops and other payors to policyholders and claimants. For example, in the first quarter of 2017, Aetna recorded a discounted estimated liability expense of $231 million pretax for our estimated share of future assessments for long-term care insurer Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Company and one of its subsidiaries. Guaranty funds are maintained by state insurance commissioners to protect policyholders and claimants in the event that an insurer, HMO, ACA co-op and/or other payor becomes insolvent or is unable to meet its financial obligations. These funds are usually financed by assessments against insurers regulated by a state. Future assessments may have an adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows.

Extreme events, or the threat of extreme events, could materially increase our health care (including behavioral health) costs.

Nuclear, biological or other attacks, whether as a result of war or terrorism, other man-made disasters, natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other extreme events can affect the U.S. economy in general, our industries and us specifically. In particular, such extreme events or the threat of such extreme events could result in significant health care (including behavioral health) costs, which also would be affected by the government’s actions and the responsiveness of public health agencies and other insurers. Such extreme events or the threat of such extreme events also could disrupt our supply chains and/or our distribution chains for the products we sell. In addition, our employees and those of our vendors are concentrated in certain large, metropolitan areas which may be particularly exposed to these events. Such events could adversely affect our businesses,

operating results and cash flows, and, in the event of extreme circumstances, our financial condition or viability, particularly if our responses to such events are less adequate than those of our competitors.

Risks From Changes in Public Policy and Other Legal and Regulatory Risks

We are subject to potential changes in public policy, laws and regulations, including reform of the U.S. health care system, which can adversely affect our businesses. Entitlement program reform, if it occurs, could have a material adverse effect on our businesses, operations and/or operating results.

The political environment in which we operate remains uncertain. It is reasonably possible that our business operations and operating results could be materially adversely affected by legislative, regulatory and public policy changes at the federal or state level, increased government involvement in drug reimbursement, pricing, purchasing and/or importation and/or increased regulation of PBMs, including: changes to the Medicare or Medicaid programs (including the block grant option outlined by CMS on January 30, 2020, the “block grant option”) or the regulatory environment for health care and related benefits, including the ACA; changes to laws or regulations governing drug reimbursement and/or pricing; changes to the laws and regulations governing PBMs’, PDPs’ and/or Managed Medicaid organizations’ interactions with government funded health care programs; changes to laws and/or regulations governing drug manufacturers’ rebates; changes to laws and/or regulations governing reimbursements paid to pharmacists by and/or reporting required by PBMs; changes to immigration policies and/or other public policy initiatives. It is not possible to predict whether or when any such changes will occur or what form any such changes may take (including through the use of U.S. Presidential Executive Orders). Other significant changes to health care and related benefits system legislation or regulation as well as changes with respect to tax and trade policies, tariffs and other government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries also are possible and could adversely affect our businesses. If we fail to respond adequately to such changes, including by implementing strategic and operational initiatives, or do not respond as effectively as our competitors, our businesses, operations and operating results may be materially adversely affected.

In addition to efforts to amend, repeal or replace the ACA and related regulations, we expect the federal and state governments to continue to enact and seriously consider many broad-based legislative and regulatory proposals that will or could materially impact various aspects of the health care and related benefits system and our businesses. Potential modification to the ACA, including changes in enforcement and/or funding that further destabilize the Public Exchanges, as well as significant changes to Medicaid funding (including the block grant option) could impact the number of Americans with health insurance and, consequently, prescription drug coverage. Further changes to federal health care and related benefits laws, including the ACA, drug reimbursement and pricing laws, laws governing PBMs and/or laws governing PBMs’, PDPs’ and/or Managed Medicaid organizations’ interactions with government funded health care programs, are probable. We cannot predict the effect, if any, that new health care and related benefits legislation, future changes to the ACA or the implementation of or failure to implement the outstanding provisions of ACA, may have on our Pharmacy Services, retail pharmacy, LTC pharmacy and/or Health Care Benefits operations and/or operating results. The federal and many state governments also are considering changes in the interpretation, enforcement and/or application of existing programs, laws and regulations, including changes to payments under and funding of Medicare and Medicaid programs and increased regulation of PBMs.

Further, changes in existing federal or state laws or regulations or the adoption of new laws or regulations relating to additional regulation of PBMs (including formulary management or other PBM services), drug pricing or purchasing, patent term extensions and/or purchase discount and/or rebate arrangements with drug manufacturers also could reduce the discounts or rebates we receive. Changes in existing federal or state laws or regulations or the adoption of new laws or regulations relating to claims processing and billing, including our ability to use MAC lists and collect transmission fees, also could adversely affect our profitability. For example, on October 29, 2020, the HHS released a final rule requiring health insurers to disclose drug pricing and cost-sharing information. The final rule requires group health plans and health insurance issuers in the individual and group markets to disclose cost-sharing information upon request, to a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee, which, unless otherwise indicated, for the purpose of the final rules includes an authorized representative, and requires plans and issuers to disclose in-network provider rates, historical out-of-network allowed amounts and the associated billed charges, and

negotiated rates for prescription drugs. The public disclosure of insurer- or PBM-negotiated price concessions may result in drug manufacturers lowering discounts or rebates, resulting in higher drug costs for patients and impacting the ability of the Company to negotiate drug prices and provide competitive products and services to consumers.

In addition, in November 2020, the HHS released the Rebate Rule, which eliminates the regulatory safe harbor from prosecution under the AKS for rebates from pharmaceutical companies to PBMs in Medicare Part D and in Medicaid MCOs, replacing it with two far narrower safe harbors designed to directly benefit patients with high out-of-pocket costs and to change the way PBMs are compensated. The new safe harbors are (i) for rebates which are passed on to the patient at the point of sale

and (ii) for flat service fee payments made to PBMs which cannot be tied to the list prices of drugs. The PCMA, which represents PBMs, has filed a suit in an effort to block the Rebate Rule, claiming that the Rebate Rule would lead to higher premiums in Medicare Part D and was adopted in an unlawful manner. It is unclear whether the Rebate Rule will be enforceable, whether pharmaceutical companies will respond by reducing list prices, whether list prices in the private market may also be reduced, and what the resulting impact will be to PBMs or the Company.

We cannot predict the enactment or content of new legislation or regulations or changes to existing laws or regulations or their enforcement, interpretation or application, or the effect they will have on our business operations or operating results, which could be materially adverse. Even if we could predict such matters, it is not possible to eliminate the adverse impact of public policy changes that would fundamentally change the dynamics of one or more of the industries in which we compete. Examples of such changes include: the federal or one or more state governments fundamentally restructuring or reducing the funding available for Medicare, Medicaid, dual eligible or dual eligible special needs plan programs, increasing its involvement in drug reimbursement, pricing, purchasing and/or importation, changing the laws and regulations governing PBMs’, PDPs’ and/or Managed Medicaid organizations’ interactions with government funded health care programs, changing the tax treatment of health or related benefits, or repealing or otherwise significantly altering the ACA. The likelihood of adverse changes remains high due to state and federal budgetary pressures, and our businesses and operating results could be materially and adversely affected by such changes, even if we correctly predict their occurrence.

For more information on these matters, see “Government Regulation” included in Item 1 of this 10-K.

If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, many of which are highly complex, we could be subject to significant adverse regulatory actions or suffer brand and reputational harm.

Our businesses are subject to extensive regulation and oversight by state, federal and international governmental authorities. The laws and regulations governing our operations and interpretations of those laws and regulations are increasing in number and complexity, change frequently and can be inconsistent or conflict with one another. In general, these laws and regulations are designed to benefit and protect customers, members and providers rather than us or our investors. In addition, the governmental authorities that regulate our businesses have broad latitude to make, interpret and enforce the laws and regulations that govern us and continue to interpret and enforce those laws and regulations more strictly and more aggressively each year. We also must follow various restrictions on certain of our businesses and the payment of dividends by certain of our subsidiaries put in place by certain state regulators.

Certain of our Pharmacy Services and Retail/LTC operations, products and services are subject to:

•the clinical quality, patient safety and other risks inherent in the dispensing, packaging and distribution of drugs and other health care products and services, including claims related to purported dispensing and other operational errors (any failure by our Pharmacy Services and/or Retail/LTC operations to adhere to the laws and regulations applicable to the dispensing