Here’s what you should know.
1. At the beginning of the Department of Justice’s investigation into the Aetna-Humana merger, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini sent a letter to the DOJ saying “if the deal were challenged and/or blocked, we would need to take immediate actions to mitigate public exchange and ACA small group losses.”
2. A letter from five U.S. Senators said Aetna’s decision to pull out of the exchanges was made quickly after the DOJ filed charges in its antitrust lawsuit.
3. Counsel for the consumer advocacy group Coalition to Protect Patient Choice David Balto said the lawsuit against the merger, should not have led to a withdrawl from the ACA.
“Aetna is a very large health insurer with substantial resources that it can draw on. It doesn’t need Humana to compete in insurance markets, and DOJ’s decision to block the merger likely doesn’t impact its ability to participate in the healthcare exchanges,” he said in the HealthPayer Intelligence report. “As others have reported, this claim was likely an attempt by Aetna to establish a quid pro quo with DOJ; let the merger with Humana proceed, and we will maintain and expand our presence on the exchanges.”
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