Aetna loses on merger, plans more ACA pullbacks

What's next for the insurer? (Photo: iStock)

Aetna has recorded a loss for the first quarter of the year, of $381 million, due to costs associated to its planned merger with Humana. The merger was blocked by a federal judge in January for threatening to harm competition in Medicare Advantage.

According to a Modern Healthcare report, the $37 billion merger — which cost Aetna $1 billion as a breakup fee paid to Humana — was expensive on plenty of other fronts, including millions in legal and financial fees. The deal was expected to pressure Aetna’s bottom line lower, but despite all the outlay — and additional losses from the company’s exchanges under the Affordable Care Act — the Q1 results still beat Wall Street’s financial estimates at $737 million.