CVS Health has officially appointed Tom Cowhey as its permanent Chief Financial Officer (CFO) following his interim role. Cowhey assumed the interim CFO position in October 2023, stepping in for Shawn Guertin, who served as CFO and president of health services. Guertin, who is on leave due to family health reasons, will formally depart CVS later this year.
Cowhey, who joined CVS in early 2022, previously held the role of CFO at Surgery Partners. His background also includes finance and strategy roles at Aetna, a health insurer that CVS purchased.
In another executive move, Mike Pykosz, the CEO of CVS' value-based care provider, Oak Street Health, will take on the role of president of health services. This segment, encompassing Signify Health, is a significant growth area for CVS.
These changes are a part of a larger corporate restructuring that CVS started last summer in response to declining earnings.
CVS expressed optimism about its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, anticipating enrollment to surpass previous targets for the year. The company now expects to add at least 800,000 new MA members in 2024, up from the initial forecast of 600,000. This positive outlook is crucial for CVS, given the competitive landscape in Massachusetts, where it contends with rivals like UnitedHealth and Humana.
Reaffirming its financial expectations, CVS maintained its adjusted earnings forecast for 2024 at a minimum of $8.50 per share. This confirmation comes after a previous adjustment in 2023 over concerns about increased costs driven by care utilization.
As CVS charts its course for the coming year, these leadership changes and strategic shifts are positioned to contribute to the company's resilience and growth in a dynamic healthcare landscape.
