US pharmacy chain CVS Health Corp has agreed to buy health insurance provider Aetna for a whopping $69bn, on a path to becoming a vertical provider of health services that can rival hospitals – using IoT-based connected health technologies to provide healthcare from its chain of stores. The first proposed deal of its kind, there is a fear that CVS rivals like Walgreens and Walmart will try to imitate the move – but CVS is planning on using its footprint to push preventative care services to consumers. Eliciting strong reactions from many outlets, the merger is generally viewed as having questionable consumer benefits, as well as being a threat to hospitals and smaller drugstores. The largest US pharmacy chain would…