The Florida Attorney General’s Office will review the proposed merger of health care giants Aetna and Humana, two of the top four players in the state.
“As with any merger that has the potential to affect competition within our state, we will be reviewing the proposed merger,” said Attorney General spokesman Whitney Ray. “A typical merger review looks at the potential competitive effects within the state.”
If you’ve been paying attention, you know there have been rumblings about this combination for a while. Before the merger was announced, The Palm Beach Post wrote about more than $400 million in dividend payments from Humana and Aetna’s Florida companies to their parent organizations that drew objections from state regulators. What’s good for shareholders is not always necessarily good for consumers.
The prospective marriage will get a federal antitrust review as well, with nothing expected to be finalized until well into 2016, if then.
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