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US: Aetna-Humana tie-up is anticompetitive in Missouri-state regulator

By  |  May 26, 2016

A tie-up of Aetna Inc and Humana 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.

Missouri is the first state regulator to release findings against the $33 billion deal announced last year.

The deal is being reviewed by the US Department of Justice, as well as state regulators and antitrust authorities, who are also reviewing competitor Anthem Inc’s plan to buy Cigna Corp..

Because the deals will reduce major health insurers to three from five, investors are uncertain they will close.

Missouri’s findings should not influence the Justice Department review, said Dan Mendelson, chief executive of Avalere Health, a Washington D.C. healthcare consulting firm.

Full Content: Reuters

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