US: Antitrust investigation will precede Aetna-Humana deal

Aetna and Humana have agreed to join forces. Before a merger can go through, however, regulators in Washington and in the states will have to evaluate the market impact and approve the marriage.

First, the companies submit a packet to both the Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice, which will decide if the combination is an antitrust violation or would hurt competition within the industry.

Those agencies have 60 days to review the merger before they even have to register a potential objection, and therefore, ask for more time.

Bill Baer, assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, spoke about the issue in February at a workshop hosted by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission on health care competition.

“Both agencies remain committed to challenging anticompetitive mergers in health care markets, as DoJ did in 2012 when Humana proposed acquiring Arcadian Management Service,” he said.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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