On March 29th, Dr. Fulton provided testimony to the California Department of Insurance on the proposed Anthem Inc. – Cigna Corp. merger, discussing the potential impact of a merger on the market, including on health insurance premiums.
Dr. Fulton’s testimony was covered by California HealthLine, who wrote:
Brent Fulton, a professor of health economics and policy at UC Berkeley, presented an analysis on the Anthem and Cigna merger at the request of the Department of Insurance.
Theoretically, Fulton said, consolidation could lead to stronger negotiating leverage with hospitals, physician organizations and other providers of health care services that now hold market power, resulting in lower costs for health insurance customers.
“However, we are not aware of any peer-reviewed studies that have found that higher insurer market concentration has led to lower health insurance premiums,” Fulton said.
The full California HealthLine article can be read here.
The full video of the hearing can be found here, with Dr. Fulton’s testimony beginning at 1 hours and 56 minutes.