The U.S. Department of Justice is also poised to stop Anthem’s (ANTM) acquisition of Cigna (CI), saying that both deals would hurt consumers.
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Reuters and Bloomberg reported separately Tuesday that US regulators are preparing to sue to block Aetna’s proposed $37 billion takeover of Louisville-based Humana Inc.
A source says anti-trust officials are concerned that the deals would reduce competition. The department has been skeptical that asset sales, or divestitures, would adequately preserve the current level of competition. The companies could settle a lawsuit before or after one is filed.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Aetna’s shares declined, but regained some of the loss relatively quickly.
A spokesperson for Humana did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the terms of both tie-up deals, the companies have agreed to fight any government lawsuits in court.
Anthem has previously told investors that it is likely to do so, according to people with knowledge of the matter, and Aetna has prepared a package of divestitures that it has argued would remedy any competitive concerns.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents the health-insurance industry, has said that insurers can counter the growing pricing power of hospitals, which themselves have grown larger through mergers, and deliver benefits to consumers. It has said the individual markets would remain competitive, and that it wished to cooperate with health-care providers.
Shares of Humana fell more than 5 percent Tuesday afternoon, while shares of Anthem, Aetna and Cigna fell more than 2 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
But together, Humana and Aetna have about 25 percent of the nation’s Medicare Advantage plans. Among the areas of greatest overlap are regions in Ohio, Florida and Missouri.
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Almost 4.72 million shares of the company have traded hands so far today vs. the stock’s average of 3.14 million shares per day.
