The two dominant plans in the Medicare Advantage market who have a combined 47% market share propose to complete a $5.5B merger later this fall. The combined company will continue under the United Healthcare name. The merger still must obtain approval from both companies’ shareholders and regulators. Given that a federal judge blocked a previous merger attempt between Aetna and Humana due to concerns about anti-trust and anti-competitive effects, LeadingAge would expect this proposed merger to run into similar barriers to its completion. If the merger were to go through, it would give the new merged entity enormous leverage over providers in the 48 states and Puerto Rico where it will operate.
