US: American Medical Association presents new data to oppose insurance mergers

New data presented on Wednesday shows the nation needs more competition in health insurance markets, and supports antitrust efforts to block the pending mergers among four of the nation’s biggest health insurance companies. Left unopposed, Anthem’s acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s takeover of Humana would quash competition in insurance markets across 24 states according to newly updated market analyses released by the American Medical Association (AMA).

“The AMA analyses show that Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers would significantly compromise market competition in the health insurance industry and threaten health care access, quality and affordability,” said AMA President Andrew W. Gurman, M.D. “With existing competition in health insurance markets already at alarmingly low levels, federal and state antitrust officials have powerful reasons to block harmful mergers and foster a more competitive marketplace that will operate in patients’ best interests.”

The AMA analyses are intended to help federal and state regulators in their continuing effort to identify markets where mergers may cause competitive harm to the local health system.

Full Content: Market Wired

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