10 biggest health-care companies in the Fortune 500


The roster consists of big pharmacies, insurers and a few names you wouldn’t expect.

For groups in the fitness-care enterprise, 2014 was an exceedingly busy year, as agencies adapted to new low priced Care Act policies and sought new companions in a pharmaceutical and biotech mergers-and-acquisition spree.

a few companies in the region have taken gain of the adjustments and rocketed up the Fortune 500 list, including AmerisourceBergen, which moved to No. sixteen from No. 28, and Aetna, which went to No. 49 from No. fifty seven. Others, like UnitedHealth group and Anthem, have held steady. but for the most component, the health-care behemoths rode the wave of exchange, locating ways to keep or enhance income amid a fast-changing landscape. The reality that each one 10 of those corporations are in Fortune’s pinnacle 50 speaks volumes approximately the dominant role health care plays inside the U.S. economic system. (you may discover the whole list right here, in its new, sortable online model.)

here are the ten biggest health-care agencies from this yr’s Fortune 500 listing, as measured via sales.

Regulators can be seeking more divestments from Teva.
photograph by using Dwight Eschliman—Getty pix

1. CVS health


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Courtesy of CVS
Fortune 500 rank: 10

2014 revenue: $139.4 billion

year-over-12 months sales trade: 9.9%

CVS health  CVS -0.forty three%  is already the kingdom's largest retailer of prescribed drugs and 2d-largest pharmacy blessings manager--and is increasing its attain to emerge as a fully integrated company of health offerings. most these days, it agreed to comb up all of target's 1,600-plus pharmacies throughout forty seven states, a deal worth approximately $1.nine billion. That follows at the heels of its settlement to purchase Omnicare for $12.7 billion. Omnicare is a drug delivery employer that also enables senior-living facilities control citizens' medications. the purchase, CVS's biggest because 2007 while it sold pharmacy-benefits supervisor Caremark Rx, gives the retailer extra strategic attain as it looks to serve an growing older population with extra care desires.

The target pharmacies and Omnicare deals construct on a grander shift controlled by way of CEO Larry Merlo, who has been transforming the drug-shop chain into a complete-provider health control business enterprise. in the ultimate 12 months, the company swept cigarettes off its cabinets, changed its name to CVS health from CVS Caremark, and made plans to make bigger its in-save fitness clinics by approximately six hundred locations via 2017. The actions role CVS fitness, which currently operates about 7,seven hundred retail pharmacies and 900 walk-in clinics, as a greater absolutely geared up company for patients, helping to make sure clients "are getting the proper stage of care at the right time," Merlo instructed Fortune.

2. McKesson


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photo via Kris Tripplaar — Sipa u.s./AP
Fortune 500 rank: 11

2014 sales: $138 billion

yr-over-yr revenue alternate: 12.7%

McKesson, the biggest U.S. pharmaceutical distributor, has been on a roll way to rising sales in its wholesale drug distribution phase and its improved stake in Celesio. McKesson first acquired 50.1% of that German business enterprise in October 2013, giving the distributor a larger presence within the international normal-drug market. San Francisco-based totally McKesson in the end acquired the total company at the beginning of ultimate 12 months and has been busy integrating the new purchase.

in addition to its fitness care distribution commercial enterprise, McKesson  MCK zero.71%  also develops, implements and supports software in the medical community, a commercial enterprise it's frequently underappreciated relative to the corporation’s larger distribution unit. Its era solutions segment is on tempo to usher in more than $3 billion in 2015, making it the enterprise’s No. 2 leader, behind Cerner. McKesson gives IT offerings such as digital fitness-records structures, fitness-plan fee control and revenue cycle management.

3. UnitedHealth group


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photo by way of Michael Nagle — Bloomberg/Getty
Fortune 500 rank: 14

2014 revenue: $130.5 billion

12 months-over-yr sales trade: 6.five%

UnitedHealth institution serves more than eighty five million patients worldwide with its fitness blessings and services. it's the biggest U.S. health insurer, surpassing the likes of Kaiser basis group and Anthem. Their organizations don’t prevent there: CEO Stephen Hemsley has been making an investment heavily in Optum, its fitness services arm, which includes a pharmacy benefits supervisor (PBM) and health facts analytics.

even as Optum represents best a third of the Minnesota-based totally employer’s total sales, the unit is growing rapid. Optum’s income elevated 15% all through the first zone this yr. to strengthen Optum’s pharmacy enterprise, UnitedHealth received Catamaran for $12.8 billion in March, which more than doubled its PBM contributors, to 65 million. the additional scale gives UnitedHealth  UNH 2.28%  extra sway when it comes to negotiating drug costs with manufacturers.


four. AmerisourceBergen

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Courtesy of AmerisourceBergen
Fortune 500 rank: 16

2014 revenue: $119.6 billion

year-over-yr sales change: 34.1%

AmerisourceBergen, one in every of the most important worldwide pharmaceutical distribution and sourcing offerings agencies, has been flying high considering beginning a partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance in 2013. The deal changed into fully applied in the first region of 2015 and supplied a wholesome earnings and revenue raise, with even greater gains expected for the distributor. complete 12 months profits are anticipated to be up sixteen% for economic 2015 and up 14% in 2016.

because of the deal, AmerisourceBergen  ABC 1.37%  and Walgreens are capable of pool their typical-drug buying to get even better reductions from producers--a big boost to their backside line. AmerisourceBergen is likewise venturing into the quick-growing animal fitness industry following its January buy of MWI Veterinary deliver. MWI sells the whole thing from prescription drugs for pets to puppy food and system. U.S. veterinary spending on pets has grown at about 6% according to yr over the past seven years -- and it’s an enterprise that isn’t problem to authorities pricing stress.

five. express Scripts Holdings

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Courtesy of specific Scripts maintaining
Fortune 500 rank: 22

2014 revenue: $one hundred.9 billion

year-over-year sales exchange: -three.6%

explicit Scripts, a complete-provider pharmacy benefits supervisor, has been rewarded through industry consolidation that has cut charges and boosted its bargaining energy in opposition to pharmaceutical companies. explicit Scripts led the wave of consolidation in this zone while it bought Medco fitness answers for almost $30 billion in 2012. The deal doubled its sales and placed the corporation because the No. 1 pharmacy advantages manager.

The St. Louis-based totally enterprise has also benefitted from a boom in the wide variety of insured sufferers, a end result of the low-cost Care Act. specific Scripts  ESRX 0.seventy two%  has used its enterprise-leading role to wring out savings on excessive-value forte capsules for its customers, which will become more vital as extra revolutionary remedies come in the marketplace. specialty drug spending is predicted to develop via approximately 20% annually for the next numerous years, according to the business enterprise, and insurers and employers will depend on PBMs to assist them better manage this rate.

6. Cardinal fitness


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photo by means of Kiichiro Sato — AP
Fortune 500 rank: 26

2014 sales: $ninety one.1 billion

year-over-12 months sales alternate: -nine.nine%

Cardinal health, a drug wholesaler that still makes gloves and surgical garb, has been on a buying spree currently in a bid to shore up future earnings. In March, Cardinal shelled out $1.94 billion to acquire Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis heart-product enterprise, which lets in Cardinal to feature stents and catheters to the listing of merchandise it offers its customers.

The deal follows on the heels of Cardinal fitness’s long-term strategic agreement with Henry Schein in November 2014 and a contract production agreement with Bayer Healthcare at some stage in the second one economic quarter this year. The partnerships and purchases are a way for Cardinal health  CAH 0.60%  to amplify the portfolio of scientific products that it sells to hospitals, physicians and ambulatory facilities. It’s additionally similarly expanding into services and aid for customers which might be transferring from the traditional health center version to larger incorporated structures across numerous sites of care.


7. Walgreens Boots Alliance


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Courtesy of Walgreens Boots Alliance
Fortune 500 rank: 35

2014 revenue: $seventy six.4 billion

year-over-yr revenue trade: five.eight%

Walgreens Boots Alliance has a presence in greater than 25 nations worldwide and employs some 370,000 people. Its breadth makes it the most important retail pharmacy business enterprise within the U.S. and Europe. This beyond 12 months turned into a pivotal time period for the organization. Walgreens and uk-primarily based Alliance Boots completed their merger to forge a brand new agency--the sector's first global, pharmacy-led health and wellbeing employer.

As a part of the deal, Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson stepped down, delivering the reins to  present day performing CEO Stefano Pessina. there has been significant turnover some other place inside the senior ranks, which left many investors expecting extra info on how the up to date management could direct the new, larger employer. Pessina hasn't been shy approximately his plans to grow Walgreen Boots Alliance  WAG zero.00% . he's made movements to shut 200 U.S. shops to cut expenses and stated he's at the hunt for greater agencies to shop for.

eight. Johnson & Johnson

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photo through Scott Eells — Bloomberg/Getty photographs
Fortune 500 rank: 37

2014 sales: $seventy four.3 billion

yr-over-yr sales change: four.2%

Johnson & Johnson boasts a stable of 24 manufacturers and structures that every generate over $1 billion in sales. That helped improve the enterprise's general income to $seventy four.three billion last 12 months, up four.2% yr-over-12 months. a great deal of that changed into a credit score to Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical phase, which is the quickest-growing of the top 10 pharmaceutical organizations within the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky has plans to preserve that boom into 2015 and past. The enterprise has 20 key customer product launches deliberate for this year and expects to put up 10 new pharmaceutical filings for approval thru 2017. Johnson & Johnson  JNJ 0.75%  additionally opted to shed its Cordis heart-product commercial enterprise as part of its plan to awareness on boom possibilities, promoting it to Cardinal health for $2 billion.

nine. Anthem

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image by way of Aaron P. Bernstein — Getty pictures
Fortune 500 rank: 38

2014 revenue: $seventy three.9 billion

12 months-over-yr revenue alternate: three.four%

Anthem, referred to as Wellpoint before remaining 12 months, has confronted a hard patch over the past six months. In early February, it changed into discovered that the Indianapolis-primarily based business enterprise’s database have been penetrated with the aid of a hacker attack, affecting 78.8 million humans. The attack exposed names, birthdays, Social security numbers and different private information, even though there’s still no evidence that any scientific statistics or financial statistics become breached. Anthem, the second-biggest fitness insurer within the U.S., has been operating to contain the breach and tell affected patients even as dealing with an onslaught of lawsuits associated with the incursion.

regardless of the safety breach, Anthem’s  WLP 0.00% enrollment boom has persisted. within the first 3 months of this 12 months, the institution added 1 million greater sufferers to attain a total of 38.5 million. The developing member base mixed with a decrease clinical-fee trend has boosted income in current months, which CEO Joseph Swedish expects to keep via the rest of the yr.


10. Aetna


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picture by using Ron Antonelli — Bloomberg via Getty photographs
Fortune 500 rank: 49

2014 revenue: $58 billion

yr-over-12 months revenue trade: 22.6%

Aetna became an sudden enterprise chief while CEO Mark Bertolini introduced in January that the company could boost its minimal salary to $16 an hour. The pay improve, which preceded similar movements with the aid of Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, will have an effect on 5,seven hundred of Aetna’s lowest-paid people. at the same time as the medical insurance enterprise has been altered with the aid of the low priced Care Act--in each correct and bad methods--Bertolini believes the pass is right business, in large part procuring itself by using making workers greater effective.

Like its rival insurers, Aetna  AET zero.forty one%  has benefited from higher enrollments driven via the ACA, but has also faced new prices imposed by means of the act. The Hartford, Conn.-primarily based enterprise’s club stood at 23.7 million as of the cease of the primary region in 2015, a 1 million member increase yr-over-12 months.