The Department of Justice is reportedly preparing to block two large insurance industry mergers that involve Connecticut-based companies Aetna and Cigna.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the DOJ should stop the mergers on anti-trust grounds.
Blumenthal is confirming what was first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg: that the DOJ is probably preparing lawsuits to block the two proposed mergers involving four of the five largest insurers in the country.
The mergers would have Hartford-based Aetna take over Humana; Bloomfield-based Cigna would be taken over by Anthem.
Company CEOs have downplayed concerns over decreased competition and have said the mergers would benefit consumers—with the companies improving technology, better helping customers find care, and cutting costs.
"These megamergers tend to reduce jobs and diminish the number of competitors," Blumenthal said, "in this case from five to three -- and thereby reduce choices and raise prices."
Blumenthal said he wants Aetna and Cigna to succeed and thrive, and he wants them to do it independently, and with a commitment to their current employees.
“They have declined to say that jobs would be retained or increased in Connecticut," Blumenthal said. "And that signals to me that there’ll be a loss of jobs if these mergers are approved—not to mention the impact negatively on consumers in raising prices, and on quality of health care."
An Aetna spokesperson, Kristine Grow, said the takeover of Humana by Aetna wouldn’t negatively affect quality or competition. Grow said the merger is primarily about Medicare, and that there’s robust competition in Medicare.
Grow said that the combined company would only serve about eight percent of all Medicare beneficiaries.
Neither the DOJ or Cigna had comments on the possibility of an anti-trust lawsuit.
"We will absolutely defend our deal in court should it come to that," Grow said.
Shares of Aetna, Anthem, and Cigna closed down more than two percent Tuesday. Humana dropped nearly four percent.
Trade Secret Lawsuits Filed By Connecticut Software Company
A Connecticut financial software company is suing an Idaho software company that hired away two of its employees.
SS&C Technologies has filed two lawsuits against Clearwater Analytics and its former employees in Illinois state court, and in federal court in Connecticut.
The lawsuits focus on some common and often contested areas of business law, like what information departing employees may take with them to another job, and who they can contact after leaving.
The number of trade secret lawsuits filed in federal courts has been doubling about every decade. And they’ve increased rapidly in state courts as well.
