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State files Lawsuit to Block Insurance Mergers

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  • Justice Department has filed a preliminary injunction to block mergers involving the country’s top health insurance companies.
  • Four of the top five insurances by market share had announced plans to merge in 2016. This included Aetna with Humana, Anthem with Cigna. UnitedHealth Group, the largest by market value, is not involved in the proposed mergers.
  • Under Anti-trust laws, mergers that restrict the benefits of competition are unlawful. The department of Justice, after scrutinizing the planned mergers for a year, has concluded that these mergers would ultimately harm consumers both in how much they would have to pay for health care and the quality of care they would receive.
  • With this lawsuit, Cigna said it did not believe any deal would be possible before 2017 at the earliest, “if at all”.
  • Eleven states joined the challenge to the Anthem-Cigna merger, and eight states joined in challenging the Aetna-Humana merger.

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Nathan Bradshaw is a progressive healthcare researcher with access to industry experts, researchers, physicians, legislators, and entrepreneurs to promote technological advancements across the entire healthcare value chain. He is passionate about groundbreaking technologies such as Cloud-Based Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Billing, Patient Engagement, Augmented Reality, and the Internet of Things initiatives that can help improve the quality and efficiency of care delivery.

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