Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Missouri Is First State To Rebuke Proposed Aetna-Humana Merger Over Antitrust Concerns
A tie-up of Aetna Inc and Humana Inc would be anti-competitive in Missouri for several types of insurance, including individual Medicare Advantage plans where the combined company would have more than a 50 percent market share, the Missouri Department of Insurance said. The department said in an order, dated May 24 and posted on its website, that if the proposed acquisition of Humana by Aetna were to go forward, the companies would need to stop selling individual insurance, small group and certain Medicare Advantage plans in its state. (Humer, 5/25)
Aetna’s proposed $37 billion takeover of Humana suffered a major setback when Missouri regulators rejected the deal on Wednesday. While one state's decision won't kill Humana's merger with Aetna, “the question is whether this is the tip of the iceberg," said Martin Gaynor, an antitrust expert at Carnegie Mellon University. (Demko, 5/25)
Missouri insurance officials have issued a preliminary order against the merger of Aetna and Humana, the first state to find serious antitrust problems with the massive transaction. However, Aetna and Humana have 30 days to “submit a plan to remedy the anti-competitive impact of the acquisition.” That likely means the state may push the health insurers to divest Medicare Advantage plans in areas where competition would have been smothered. (Herman, 5/25)
Deciding that a merger between Aetna and Humana would hurt consumers, Missouri’s top insurance regulator has issued a preliminary order that bars the companies from offering certain plans if they complete the $37 billion deal announced last summer. (Liss, 5/25)
Missouri is the first state to signal disapproval of the pending merger, which would combine two of the largest health insurers in the country. An state analysis determined the combined company would control too much of the market for the four types of health plans. It gave the insurers 30 days to propose changes. (Bouscaren, 5/25)
Meanwhile, in Connecticut —
The Connecticut Insurance Department has signed off on Aetna’s proposed merger with Humana, but other hurdles remain for that deal and another merger proposed by Cigna and Anthem. (Radelat, 5/25)
