U.S. Sues to Block Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana Mergers
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits to block the proposed mergers of four of the nation’s five biggest health insurers, reports The New York Times.
The proposed mergers involve Aetna and Humana, and Anthem and Cigna.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said the proposed mergers “would leave much of the multitrillion-dollar health insurance industry in the hands of three mammoth insurance companies.”
“If these mergers were to take place, the competition among insurers that has pushed them to provide lower premiums, higher-quality care and better benefits would be eliminated,” she said.
“The companies responded by vowing, in varying degrees, to fight the government’s challenge,” report Leslie Picker and Reed Abelson. “Aetna, which had hoped to gain an advantage by being the first to reach a deal, aggressively defended its proposed merger, which it contended was different from the larger Anthem-Cigna deal that followed.”
