AMA applauds court ruling upholding rejection of Anthem-Cigna merger

The American Medical Association (AMA) today applauded the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholding a lower court ruling halting the proposed $54 billion mega insurance merger between Anthem and Cigna. The AMA represented patient and physician voices, submitting an amicus brief to the appellate court in support of preserving the merger injunction issued in February. As the AMA has long observed, and as the trial court found, this merger would harm patients because it would likely lead to higher premiums, eliminate the existing head-to-head competition between Anthem and Cigna, reduce the number of national carriers from four to three, and diminish innovation. Unchallenged by today’s Court of Appeals ruling, these findings validate AMA’s ongoing concerns with highly concentrated health insurance markets.

“The appellate court sent a clear message to the health insurance industry: a merger that smothers competition and choice, raises premiums and reduces quality and innovation is inherently harmful to patients and physicians,” said AMA President Andrew W. Gurman, M.D. “The result of 21 months of advocacy before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), congressional leaders, state attorneys general, insurance commissioners, and federal court, this outcome shows again that when doctors join together, the best outcome for patients and doctors can be achieved.”