Hospitals, doctors continue criticism of insurance deals at Capitol Hill hearing

Modern Healthcare: The CEOs of Aetna and Anthem returned to Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend their respective transactions to House members, the second such congressional hearing in a week, but hospitals and doctors said the deals remain unjustified and deserve sharp federal scrutiny.

Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini and Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish recited similar testimony from their Senate hearing last week. Bertolini said Aetna's $37 billion acquisition of Humana is almost entirely about enlarging its Medicare Advantage business, and if the transaction closes, only 8% of all Medicare beneficiaries would be in an Aetna or Humana plan. Most seniors would still be enrolled in the government's traditional fee-for-service Medicare program.

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