Penelope
Diamond Member
- Jul 15, 2014
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they used it as a threat for the DOJ to rule in favor of Aetna and Humana merger, and now that Trump is president one can assume this will happen, so us citizens will truly only have a couple companies who will control the prices.
Judge: Aetna lied about quitting Obamacare
A federal judge has ruled that Aetna wasn't being truthful when the health insurer said last summer that its decision to pull out of most Obamacare exchanges was strictly a business decision triggered by mounting losses.
U.S. District Judge John Bates concluded this week that Aetna's real motivation for dropping Obamacare coverage in several states was "specifically to evade judicial scrutiny" over its merger with Humana.
Aetna pulled out of Obamacare exchanges in 11 states last August, including 17 counties in Florida, Georgia and Missouri where the Department of Justice argued the merger would wipe out competition.
That decision to retreat from Obamacare came just a month after the Department of Justice blocked Aetna's $34 billion merger with Humana on antitrust grounds.
But Bates said this week the DOJ presented "persuasive support" -- including internal Aetna emails -- for the conclusion that Aetna (AET) withdrew from the Obamacare exchanges in those counties "to improve its litigation position."
"The Court does not credit the minimal efforts of Aetna executives to claim otherwise," Bates wrote in a ruling following a trial over the merger.
He added that Aetna's decision regarding participation in the 2017 exchanges in these counties was "in fact manipulated."
Aetna had warned the government it may need to dump then-President Obama's signature healthcare law if the U.S. scuttled its deal with Humana (HUM).
"It is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely...should our deal ultimately be blocked," Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini wrote in a letter to the DOJ last July that was obtained by the Huffington Post.
Judge: Aetna lied about why it dropped some Obamacare coverage
Judge: Aetna lied about quitting Obamacare
A federal judge has ruled that Aetna wasn't being truthful when the health insurer said last summer that its decision to pull out of most Obamacare exchanges was strictly a business decision triggered by mounting losses.
U.S. District Judge John Bates concluded this week that Aetna's real motivation for dropping Obamacare coverage in several states was "specifically to evade judicial scrutiny" over its merger with Humana.
Aetna pulled out of Obamacare exchanges in 11 states last August, including 17 counties in Florida, Georgia and Missouri where the Department of Justice argued the merger would wipe out competition.
That decision to retreat from Obamacare came just a month after the Department of Justice blocked Aetna's $34 billion merger with Humana on antitrust grounds.
But Bates said this week the DOJ presented "persuasive support" -- including internal Aetna emails -- for the conclusion that Aetna (AET) withdrew from the Obamacare exchanges in those counties "to improve its litigation position."
"The Court does not credit the minimal efforts of Aetna executives to claim otherwise," Bates wrote in a ruling following a trial over the merger.
He added that Aetna's decision regarding participation in the 2017 exchanges in these counties was "in fact manipulated."
Aetna had warned the government it may need to dump then-President Obama's signature healthcare law if the U.S. scuttled its deal with Humana (HUM).
"It is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely...should our deal ultimately be blocked," Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini wrote in a letter to the DOJ last July that was obtained by the Huffington Post.
Judge: Aetna lied about why it dropped some Obamacare coverage
