DOJ Moves to Block Health Insurance Mega Mergers

Washington, D.C. – The Justice Department announced today it will ask a federal judge to block Anthem Inc.’s proposed purchase of Cigna Corp., and Aetna’s proposed purchase of Humana Inc., because of fears the mergers will shrink competition in the health insurance industry. If both mergers were allowed to go through, the number of major insurance companies would go from five to just three. A merger between Anthem and Cigna would have created the largest health insurer by enrollment – with more than 54 million members and $117 billion in revenue, according to press reports. Aetna’s takeover of Humana would make it the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, with about 25 percent of that market, according to press reports. Following is the statement of Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack on the Justice Department’s action.

“The Justice Department’s thorough and impartial review of the facts at hand makes a convincing case that these mergers are not in the interest of America’s health care consumers. The mergers would have given the newly combined companies far too much power over the health insurance market, allowing them to dictate prices with little fear of competition.”