A federal judge has blocked Aetna’s merger with Humana after finding that the health insurers’ $37 billion deal would leave seniors with fewer and costlier options for private Medicare coverage.
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Judge blocks major health insurance merger
The merger risked irreparably harming competition within the Medicare Advantage market, and would hand Aetna and Humana a near monopoly across the nation, wrote U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates in a verdict issued Monday. The ruling represents a major victory for the Justice Department, which under former president Barack Obama sued to halt the merger over concerns that it would further consolidate an already-concentrated private Medicare landscape. Between Aetna and Humana, the companies serve 4.5 million of the nearly 17 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage.
