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Connecticut was among the states and cities that would be hurt by the merger of Anthem and Cigna, a government witness in an antitrust trial said Tuesday. David Dranove, a Northwestern University health care economics professor, said the merger would result in higher prices and poorer care in many metropolitan areas and in certain states, including Connecticut, that already have few choices of health insurers. (Radelat, 12/20)

Aetna and Humana on Tuesday closed a weeklong defense of their $37 billion merger, accusing the Justice Department of exaggerating the deal's impact on competition among private Medicare plans. In a hearing on the deal, the health insurers over the last two days relied on testimony from former Clinton economic adviser Jonathan Orszag to counter the DOJ’s antitrust claims. Orszag, who served as the companies' primary expert witness, testified that the DOJ's evaluation of the merger is deeply flawed and isn't reflective of the health insurance market. (Cancryn, 12/20)