Woonsocket-based CVS Health reportedly plans to divide into two publicly traded companies, separating its retail pharmacies from its insurance and pharmacy-benefit operations in a restructuring that raises significant questions for its Rhode Island headquarters and workforce.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening that the company had decided to split, with the separation planned for the first half of 2028. The report included comments from CEO David Joyner explaining the decision.
Under the reported structure, one company would retain the CVS Health name and remain under Joyner’s leadership, housing insurer Aetna, pharmacy-benefit manager Caremark, Oak Street Health, Signify Health and the specialty-drug business. A separate company, CVS Pharmacy, would include approximately 9,000 retail pharmacies, mail-order pharmacy operations and MinuteClinic.
“We’re basically taking what I believe is one great company and making it two,” Joyner told the Journal. He said separate management teams would be able to focus more closely on their businesses and operate more nimbly, following improvements at Aetna and in retail pharmacy performance.
For Rhode Island, the immediate questions concern the future of the Woonsocket headquarters and the employees whose work supports the company’s different businesses.
Would both companies maintain a corporate presence in Woonsocket? Where would each be headquartered? How would shared departments and employees be divided, and would the restructuring affect jobs, benefits or reporting relationships?
The reports reviewed have not established those details or when employees were informed of the plans, if they have been.
An ongoing labor dispute
The restructuring reports also come amid a contract dispute involving Rhode Island CVS pharmacists and pharmacy technicians represented by The Pharmacy Guild/IAM.
Workers staged a lunchtime walkout in August and rallied outside the Wakefield CVS on October 23 over staffing, workloads and negotiations for a first union contract. Workers at locations in Wakefield, Middletown and Westerly have been seeking a contract since unionizing in 2024.
In August, approximately 90% of participating Rhode Island union members voted to sanction a strike. That vote provided additional union support for a potential strike; it did not itself initiate a work stoppage.
Union representatives have accused CVS of bargaining in bad faith and failing to adequately address staffing concerns. CVS disputes those characterizations, saying it is negotiating in good faith and investing in recruitment, training, scheduling support and technology to improve pharmacy operations.
No union response to the proposed corporate separation was located as of this update.
Further details awaited
CVS previously explored a potential breakup in 2024. The latest reports come amid growing political and regulatory scrutiny of companies that combine insurance, pharmacy-benefit management and retail pharmacies. Joyner told the Journal that regulatory issues were not driving the decision.
Reporting has differed on how final the plans are. The Journal described a decision to split and quoted Joyner, while a Reuters version carried by StreetInsider cited an unnamed source saying no final decision had been made. Reuters also acknowledged the Journal’s reporting. No CVS press release or statement announcing the separation had not been located as of this update.
CVS has scheduled its third-quarter earnings call for TODAY, Wednesday, November 4, at 8 a.m. ET.
About CVS Health
CVS Health® is a leading health solutions company simplifying health care one person, one family and one community at a time. As of June 30, 2026, the Company had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 87 million plan members. The Company also serves an estimated 37 million people through a broad range of health insurance products and related services. The Company’s integrated model uses personalized, technology driven services to connect people to simply better health, increasing access to quality care, delivering better outcomes, and lowering overall costs.
This is a developing story.
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