Two Wisconsin lawmakers are demanding a “guarantee of zero job reductions” before the state approves the merger of Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc.
In a letter to Wisconsin insurance commissioner Ted Nickel, state Rep. Eric Genrich and state Sen. Dave Hansen said job losses would be a “devastating blow” to the Green Bay area.
Louisville, Ky.-based Humana (NYSE: HUM) is the largest private employer in Brown County, with a total workforce in the county of 3,100, reports WLUK-TV in Green Bay.
“For that reason, we ask that (the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance) receive a guarantee of zero job reductions within Humana’s Wisconsin locations should the proposed merger proceed,” the letter said.
I have asked Humana for comment, but I haven’t heard back from the company.
Humana and Aetna (NYSE: AET) need Wisconsin’s OK before they can close on their $37 billion merger announced last year.
The deal is being reviewed by federal regulators from the U.S. Department of Justice and state insurance commissioners for antitrust concerns, and has slowly been earning the approvals it needs to move forward.
Officials with Humana and Aetna said in February that the merger had received 10 of the 20 states it needed, but that the deal is still on track to close later this year.
Kentucky’s insurance regulators gave their OK in February, but physicians’ groups in Humana’s home state have their doubts, as I reported in November. Kentucky Medical Association CEO Patrick Padgett told me then that the deal could result in a “behemoth insurance company” that leaves little choice for consumers.
That was also a concern for the Wisconsin lawmakers. In the letter, they asked the state’s insurance commissioner to “work with Aetna and Humana to control drug prices and premiums for Wisconsin consumers and to maintain a competitive array of choices in providers.”
Officials with both companies have said they “believe the combination of Aetna and Humana will improve the health care system and offer consumers more choices and greater access to higher quality, more affordable care,” according to an emailed statement sent to me previously by Aetna spokesman Rohan Hutchings.
Wisconsin’s insurance regulators scheduled a public hearing for this week to determine what the state will ask from the companies before granting approval, WLUK-TV reported.
Date: March 30, 2016