Doctors have filed objections to a proposed merger involving four health insurance giants.
The American Medical Association, the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association have requested that Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation reject Aetna’s application to acquire Humana’s Florida-based insurance providers: Humana Health Insurance Co. of Florida Inc., Humana Medical Plan Inc., CarePlus Health Plans Inc. and CompBenefits Co..
The physician groups noted their own analysis of the proposed merger “reveals significant concerns with respect to the impact on consumers in terms of health care access, quality and affordability.” The comments also suggested that the state’s procedural process might have hampered public review of the proposed merger.
A combined company would create the largest insurer in the state, with about 31.5 percent of the market, according to Florida Health Market Review 2015, released in November by independent analyst Allan Baumgarten.
Doctors say the the merger would exceed federal antitrust guidelines and enhance market power in three Florida metro areas: Jacksonville, Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.
The AMA analysis also shows that the proposed merger would raise competitive concerns in Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Lakeland-Winter Haven, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach.
The merger faces review in all 50 states and must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. Three states — Vermont, Michigan and Colorado — have already given their OKs.
Date: December 28, 2015