Big health care deals are creating insurance giants. Is that good for consumers?
(WASHINGTON POST) Carolyn Johnson — You’ve probably heard that there’s merger mania in the health insurance world, with the latest domino to fall Friday when Anthem and Cigna announced a highly-anticipated $54.2 billion deal early Friday morning. Here’s our guide for what you need to know:
1) The ‘big five’ health insurers are now the ‘big three.’
Ranked by number of health plan members, Anthem and Cigna will be the biggest insurer, with more than 53 million members. UnitedHealth Group has more than 45 million members. In early July, Aetna and Humana announced they would merge, creating a company with 33 million members.