The Illinois Department of Insurance has issued an order approving the proposed acquisition by Aetna, Inc., of three subsidiaries of Humana, Inc., as part of Aetna's proposed merger with Humana.
The three Illinois companies are Humana Benefit Plan of Illinois, Inc., CompBenefits Dental, Inc., and Humana Dental Concern, Ltd.
In the order, the department acknowledged that consummation of the proposed acquisition “may lessen competition with respect to a niche of the Medicare Advantage market in Illinois specific to individual non-special needs Medicare Advantage offerings in a few downstate counties.” However, the department said, the proposed acquisition, if effectuated, would “not reduce the number of insurance companies offering such non-special needs Medicare Advantage plans to individuals in any Illinois counties, as there is no merger at the insurance company stratum.”
The department also observed that Medicare Advantage insureds were “not confined to remain in a Medicare Advantage plan” and could choose to return to traditional Medicare if they were to become dissatisfied with their Medicare Advantage plan in the future.
The department pointed out that the standards it used to review the proposed change of control of the three Illinois companies were “materially different” from the standards used by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General in reviewing Aetna's proposed acquisition. It then concluded that the proposed acquisition did “not appear to lessen or diminish competition in other lines of health insurance business transacted” in Illinois.
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Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].