CVS and Aetna have predicted that their merger will “transform the patient healthcare experience and deliver better care and coordination while saving costs for consumers.”
Nearly a year after the two companies first launched the deal that would combine them into a single entity, the last holdout against the CVS Health-Aetna merger has finally given in, and the $69 billion merger between the two behemoths is set to close this week.
According to Modern Healthcare, New York—one of the last holdouts against the deal—gave the merger a go-ahead, under several conditions, including limits on health insurance premium increases as well as a promise to invest in insurance education and enrollment activities.
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“DFS listened to the concerns of the public and has obtained significant commitments from CVS and Aetna to address those concerns, ensuring that the companies hold to their promises of reduced costs and improved healthcare for New Yorkers, not pass on the costs of this acquisition to New Yorkers, enhance data privacy, and not act in an anticompetitive manner going forward,” Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a statement.
In October, Vullo had considered blocking parts of the deal, according to the report, saying that the Justice Department's approval of the merger was “myopic.”
And New York wasn't the only state to set conditions on approval of the deal; California too required similar assurances from both companies before giving its approval earlier this month.
CVS and Aetna have predicted that their merger will “transform the patient healthcare experience and deliver better care and coordination while saving costs for consumers,” according to Modern Healthcare. However, antitrust experts and health economists aren't so sanguine, and are still skeptical of the benefits of the merger.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
