CVS earnings nearly double in 4th quarter

CVS Health’s fourth-quarter earnings nearly doubled, fueled by a $1.5 billion tax benefit that will help the drugstore chain expand its growing role in customer care.

The company said Thursday that it will use the break it gets from the recently completed federal tax overhaul to raise starting pay for its hourly workers and pare debt ahead of its planned, $69 billion acquisition of the insurer Aetna.

It also will pump more money into data analytics. This technology can help the company track prescription drug use or monitor data like blood tests to determine if a patient’s health or a condition is growing worse. That can cut health care costs by helping pharmacists or other care providers intervene before a big medical expense like a hospital stay hits.

The potential for greater data use is a big reason CVS said in December it would buy Aetna Inc., which covers more than 22 million people as the nation’s third-largest health insurer.

Company leaders envision turning the chain’s 9,800 stores into a one-stop-shop for health care, a place where patients can get their vision tested, their blood sugar monitored and also see a nurse practitioner and fill a prescription. The CVS-Aetna combination can then use the information it gets from all these visits to guide care and keep customers coming back.

CVS also announced Thursday that it was raising its starting wage for hourly workers to $11 an hour from $9. It will not increase health insurance premiums for the 20182019 plan year, and it will start a parental leave program that gives full-time employees with a new baby four weeks off at full pay.