CVS Health Corp. has closed its $70 billion deal to buy health insurer Aetna Inc., ending months of reviews by state and federal regulators.

The companies announced the takeover almost a year ago in December 2017, promising to create an integrated health-care company whose pharmacy locations could be hubs for medical services while better managing patients.

Key Insights

The goals of the deal—better-managed care, new points of access to the medical system, healthier communities—are extremely ambitious. Now the companies...