Additionally, competition on the federal exchanges would be limited by both the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mergers, Bill Baer, principal deputy associate attorney general at the DOJ, said Thursday.
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The justice Department launched two lawsuits aimed at stopping two major mergers in the health insurance industry.
Anthem and Cigna put out separate statements setting markedly different tones, amid lingering tension between the two companies.
Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia also have joined the suit.
“We believe a deal termination would likely have a negative impact on Humana’s credit profile because of the removal of benefit associated with being a core component of a larger, more well-diversified enterprise”, S&P said in a report issued Friday.
The government said the two companies compete head to head in about 90 percent of the United States districts where Aetna offers the insurance.
It said the mergers, first announced one year ago, would stifle competition for services everyone needs and harm millions of American consumers. “In New Hampshire, competition has inspired health insurers to explore new and innovative methods of providing and paying for health care while working to keep prices under control”. The $34-billion merger will create the biggest seller of Medicare Advantage plans, and will churn out revenues of nearly $115 billion each year.
The DOJ is also suing to block a similar deal: insurer Anthem has proposed buying Cigna.
The big insurers argue that by getting larger they will be able to negotiate better prices for drugs and medical services with pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and doctor groups. She authored a multi-state friend-of-the-court brief in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.in January 2014, urging the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling allowing for-profit companies to deny essential healthcare to female employees based on the religious beliefs of the company’s owners.
In recent years insurers have invested in more elaborate technology to help customers find the most appropriate doctors and care providers and to help them take their medicines and manage their care, which can improve health and cut costs.
Anthem, based out of Indianapolis, Ind., covers 39 million people across the country – making it the second largest insurer in the US behind UnitedHealthcare.
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In a statement to FOXBusiness.com, Anthem said, “Today’s action by the Department of Justice is an unfortunate and misguided step backwards for access to affordable healthcare for America”. “The department will continue to work with our state colleagues to protect competition and innovation in this vitally important industry”.
