CVS Names Tom Cowhey Permanent CFO

An article from

Name: Tom Cowhey

Previous title: Interim chief financial officer

New title: CFO

Tom Cowhey, a financial executive at CVS who stepped into the interim CFO role late last year, has been permanently named to the post, the company announced on Friday.

In October, Cowhey replaced Shawn Guertin, who served as CFO and president of health services. Guertin, who has been on a leave of absence due to family health reasons, will now officially leave CVS later this year, the company said. 

Cowhey joined CVS in early 2022 after previously serving as CFO of Surgery Partners. Before that, he worked at Aetna in strategy and finance positions, before the health insurer was acquired by CVS.

Meanwhile, Mike Pykosz, CEO of CVS’ value-based care provider Oak Street Health, will step up as president of health services. That division, which also includes home care company Signify Health, is a key growth area for the Rhode Island-based healthcare giant.

The executive shuffling comes amid a larger corporate restructuring CVS kicked off last summer following flagging earnings.

Also on Friday, CVS said it expects enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans to exceed previous targets for this year, due to growing sales and member retention.

CVS expects to add at least 800,000 MA members in 2024, up from its previous forecast of 600,000 new lives, according to a financial filing.

The increase is a positive sign for CVS headed into what’s expected to be another year of fierce competition in MA, where CVS faces rivals including UnitedHealth and Humana for members in the lucrative program.

CVS also reaffirmed its 2024 adjusted earnings expectation of at least $8.50 per share, after softening its 2024 profit outlook last year over fears that care utilization could drive higher costs.