Twenty economists with expertise in the subjects of antitrust, competition policy, and health economics, including Dr. Scheffler, submitted a public letter to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on July 8th. The letter addressed the economists’ concern that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR)’s recent decision to approve the Aetna-Humana merger is based on an erroneous belief that Medicare Advantage (MA) is in the same relevant product market as traditional fee-for-service Medicare (TM). Based on the commercial realities of the market and on scientific evidence from economic research, the twenty economists believe that the MA is not in the same relevant market as TM and, therefore, that the merger will cause a serious increase in concentration that raises a competitive concern.
You can read the full letter here.