The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on July 21, 2016 to block Aetna's acquisition of Humana and Anthem 's purchase of Cigna , saying the two deals would lead to higher prices. In the end, D.C. District Court Judge John Bates sided with the DOJ and the states, concluding in his 158-page opinion [PDF] that the proposed merger is “likely to substantially lessen competition in Medicare Advantage in all 364 complaint counties,” and that the government was correct to not consider Original Medicare as a direct competitor to Advantage.
John D. Bates, United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, blocks a proposed merger by health insurance companies Aetna and Humana.