Anthem-Cigna deal is bad medicine for New York state

In a hearing today before New York State Department of Financial Services, representatives of the American Medical Association (AMA) and Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) advised state insurance regulators to reject a deal proposed by Anthem, parent of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to acquire rival Cigna. The physician organizations warned that the pending blockbuster merger is bad medicine for New York State that threatens health care access, quality and affordability.

Physician representatives warned that the proposed merger amounts to a grab at anticompetitive market power that would quash competition in several of the state's health insurance markets. New York regulators were presented with an AMA analysis of the state's commercial health insurance markets, which examined the proposed merger based on federal antitrust guidelines. According to the AMA analysis the merger would enhance Anthem's market power to anticompetitive levels in Long Island. The merger also raises significant competitive concerns in the New York City metropolitan area and in the Hudson Valley.