AHA to Congress: Health insurance consolidation could harm consumers, providers

Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana “would further concentrate an already heavily concentrated health insurance industry by eliminating two of the largest five insurers, and result in negative consequences for both health care consumers and providers,” AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels today told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law. Testifying at a hearing on the proposed health insurance deals and their impact on competition, Nickels highlighted the lack of competition in local commercial insurance markets and high barriers to entry for new insurers, concerns that further concentration would lead to higher out-of-pocket costs and fewer benefits for Medicare Advantage enrollees, and how the deals could derail the hospital-led momentum to improve the nation’s health care delivery system, among other concerns. Representatives from Anthem, Aetna, the American Medical Association and others also testified at the hearing. Earlier this month, the AHA testified before this House subcommittee on competition in the health care marketplace, and last week it testified at a Senate hearing on health insurance consolidation. For more on today’s testimony, see the AHASTAT blog post.