Commissioner Dave Jones Asks Merging Companies Tough Questions, and Receives Mostly Silence
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones asked tough questions of the merging health insurance companies Aetna and Humana during yesterday’s hearing, and the representatives were unable to adequately answer them. The hearing examining the proposed Aetna-Humana health insurance mergers began at 9:00 AM Pacific Time on April 27th, in Sacramento. During the three-hour-long process, Commissioner Jones repeatedly pressed the company representatives for concrete evidence that t
Study Indicates Insurance Consolidation Will Lead to Higher Premiums
Marketplace competition matters. It reduces costs, promotes efficiencies, choice and innovation, and helps protect consumers from abuses. Consolidation in an industry generally harms competition and minimizes these beneficial effects, especially in the health insurance industry. The recent proposed mergers of Anthem and Cigna and Aetna and Humana are quite controversial, and have led to a lively debate about how this consolidation will impact consumers. The merging companies
Health Insurance Mergers Would Further Concentrate Already Vulnerable Georgia Health Insurance Marke
The proposed Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers will have a substantial impact on consumers, healthcare providers, and health insurance markets across the country. However their effects will vary in different locations. A new article by Andy Miller of Georgia Health News looks at the proposed mergers and concludes that they will greatly reduce competition in the state’s health insurance markets. He could not be more right. Choices are crucial to competition and when it com
Connecticut Campaign For Consumer Choice Hosts Forum on Anthem-Cigna Health Insurance Merger
Yesterday, the Connecticut Campaign for Consumer Choice held a public forum called “Insurance Mergers: What You Need to Know” in Mansfield Center, Connecticut. They hosted the hour-long event along with Representatives Gregg Haddad, Linda Orange, Susan Johnson, and Senator Mae Flexer. The hosts examined the merger of Anthem-Cigna and its impact on consumers, healthcare providers, and the health insurance market. Matthew Katz, Chief Executive Office of the Connecticut State Me
UnitedHealth Withdraws From Exchanges in Georgia, Arkansas
Yesterday UnitedHealth, the country’s largest insurer, decided to cease offering Affordable Care Act plans in Georgia and Arkansas. This decision comes several months after the insurance company predicted that it would lose over $1 billion because of participating in these exchanges. UnitedHealth makes up approximately 6% of the total Affordable Care Act marketplace, and it is the largest carrier of medical plans. As of last fall it had about 600,000 customers enrolled in pla
Past Example: Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Blocked Proposed Highmark-Independence Blue Cross
State Insurance Commissioners possess broad powers to investigate, remedy, and block mergers. They regulate and examine health insurance markets on a daily basis, can proposed significant consumer protections within those markets, and have the closest relationship with consumers. Even if the Department of Justice approves a merger, state Insurance Commissioners can still analyze and file suit against an acquisition. There is an example of a past case where state antitrust aut
