Bloomberg News (11/12, Tracer) reports that the American Medical Association yesterday asked antitrust regulators to block the proposed Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers, saying the deals will reduce competition and harm patient care. “Fostering competition, not consolidation, benefits American consumers through lower prices, better quality, and greater choice,” James Madara, the AMA’s chief executive officer, said in the letter to Assistant Attorney General William Baer. Madara added, “Our analyses of the proposed health insurance mergers reveal significant concerns with respect to the impact on consumers in terms of health-care access, quality, and affordability.”
The Huffington Post (11/12, Young) reports that the proposed mergers are “subject to antitrust reviews by the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and state regulators.” The American Hospital Association also opposes the deals.
The Hill (11/12, Sullivan) reports that Clare Krusing, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, hit back against the AMA’s letter and the data it used to show a loss of competition from the deals, saying, “Their flawed data set has consistently been rebuked by leading economists and is a far cry from the reality of today’s marketplace.”
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