Aetna

Anthem-Cigna, Aetna-Humana Mergers, Split Regulators

Submitted by Carmen Balber on Sun, 06/26/2016 - 13:09

Last week, the California Department of Managed Health Care approved the merger of Aetna and Humana. The move seemed unlikely after a hearing at which DMHC Director Shelley Rouillard expressed skepticism about how the deal could benefit consumers, noting especially Aetna’s history of serial unreasonable rate hikes ($39 million in excessive rates in just 8 months).

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Is Aetna Lazy, or just Greedy?

Submitted by Carmen Balber on Wed, 04/27/2016 - 12:19

The Department of Insurance held a hearing this morning into the proposed $37 billion merger of health insurance giants Aetna and Humana. Aetna is seeking to expand its market share the lazy way by buying up competitors instead of gaining customers the old-fashioned way: by having the best product. 

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Was Health Net-Centene Merger Approval A One-Off, Or Tone-Setting for Anthem, Aetna Deals?

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Thu, 03/24/2016 - 11:50
Did California regulators' approval of the Centene and Health Net merger give a preview of how reviews of Anthem's proposed consolidation with Cigna will go down? Let's hope not. Conditions for Health Net were a world away from what regulators will find in the Anthem-Cigna deal. (More on those hearings here.)  
 

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One Chance for CA Regulators to End Outrageous Aetna Premium Hikes

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Mon, 01/11/2016 - 11:45
California health plan regulators have a rare opportunity to protect consumers from excessive and unjustified premium hikes by one of the worst offenders in the state. But will they use that power? 
 

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Capitol Watchdog: Upcoming Meetings to Watch

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:33

The best time to have a hearing on another health insurance merger in California is when few in the media are around to prepare for it. So, obviously, California plans another health insurance merger hearing on the Monday after New Year's. Let's hope it is more informative than the last one, though we have our doubts. But the holiday season is also, in political terms, the calm before the legislative storm. The Legislature begins its next session on Jan. 4. 

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State Regulators Defenseless In the Face of Aetna Premium Hikes

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:00
Aetna is ending the year just like it started, with state regulators saying the insurance company has hiked premiums excessively, and there is nothing they can do about it. 
 

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