Court Blocks Aetna-Humana Deal: The Mega-Mergers Meet The Trump Administration Next

Big Insurance was dealt a significant blow on Monday, January 23. A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled in favor of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and blocked the proposed $37 billion merger of Aetna and Humana because it would have anti-competitive effects in violation of federal antitrust laws. All eyes are now on DoJ’s parallel case (also proceeding apace in D.C., but before a different federal judge), which aims to stop an even larger, $48 billion merger of two more mega-insurers: Anthem (the largest member of the Blue Cross network) and Cigna. These are the largest proposed insurance mergers in American history—indeed, Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross and United are the only insurers left with a national presence—and they come at time of unprecedented industry consolidation and uncertainty in the insurance markets. So Monday’s ruling, in which the court described the deal as part of the current health care merger “frenzy”– was extremely important. It is no small detail that the DoJ that won the Aetna/Humana case was the Obama Administration DoJ. Trump’s appointees have yet to assume leadership of the Antitrust Division. Some believe that the intense trend toward consolidation of the health care industry that has characterized the market in recent years (and was the subject of a Yale Law School/Health Affairs symposium last year) was itself occasioned by Obama-era policies, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On that front, the court’s rulin...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Insurance and Coverage Medicare Aetna Department of Justice Health Law Humana Medicare Advantage mega-merger Source Type: blogs