- The AMA's announcement comes despite the lack of discussion of the CVS-Aetna deal earlier this month at the group's annual policy-making House of Delegates meeting in Chicago.
- The AMA has come to the conclusion that this merger would likely substantially lessen competition in many healthcare markets, to the detriment of patients.
After months of review, the American Medical Association said state and federal regulators should block the acquisition of Aetna by CVS Health, saying the creation of a new healthcare giant would lead to higher prices and too much control of seniors’ Medicare drug plans.
The AMA’s announcement, which came before a hearing Tuesday afternoon before state insurance regulators in California, is a surprising blow to drugstore chain CVS’ $69 billion effort to takeover Aetna, the nation’s third largest health insurer. The AMA’s announcement comes despite the lack of discussion of the CVS-Aetna deal earlier this month at the group’s annual policy-making House of Delegates meeting in Chicago.
“The AMA has come to the conclusion that this merger would likely substantially lessen competition in many health care markets, to the detriment of patients,” AMA President Dr. Barbara McAneny said in prepared testimony to California Insurance Commissioner David Jones. “The AMA is now convinced that the proposed CVS-Aetna merger should be blocked.”
But CVS and Aetna say their proposed company will benefit consumers and they plan to “engage in a dialogue” with the AMA. “This combination does not further concentrate the healthcare sector. instead it reconfigures it to bring together disparate parts of the health care system that today lead to inefficient, ineffective and more costly care,” CVS said in a statement Tuesday.
The companies said only two weeks ago that the deal remained on track to close in the second half of this year.
Date: June 19, 2018