Statement attributed to:
Andrew W. Gurman, M.D.
President, American Medical Association
"The American Medical Association applauds California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones for taking a strong stand to prevent a near total collapse of competition in the state's health insurance market. He has taken the right approach to protect California by opposing the Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers.
"The AMA agrees with Commissioner Jones that the mergers would very likely raise premiums above competitive levels and reduce the quality of health care. He was also right in finding that any efficiency savings achieved in the mergers would not likely be passed along to patients. His finding is supported by economic studies suggesting that health insurance companies use monopoly power gained from mergers to charge higher prices for health insurance.
The AMA commends the Commissioner for acknowledging the evidence physicians and others presented demonstrating that the proposed mergers would likely enhance market power or raise significant competitive concerns in most of California metropolitan areas. Last March, the AMA testified before the Commissioner and warned that granting anticompetitive market power to any health insurance company would have long-term consequences for California's health care delivery system that would threaten health care access, quality and affordability."
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
