Don't expect other companies to quickly follow Aetna on the wage front. The move is strategic.

The $5.7 billion deal with let Aetna double its number of Medicaid members.

Shares of the insurance giant Aetna are looking awfully healthy this morning. Acquiring another insurer is likely providing a bit of a shot in the arm. It's the latest in a stream of health insurance mergers we've been charting — many of them happening for the same reasons.