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US: CVS purchase of Aetna gets final approval

By  |  September 5, 2019

CVS Health’s nearly US$70 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna was given final approval by a Federal judge after a condition set by the Justice Department was achieved.

The merger was allowed on condition Aetna sell its Medicare prescription drug plan business to WellCare Health Plans and both deals have already closed.

US District Judge Richard Leon had questioned whether the settlement did enough to protect competition and consumers in health-care markets.

Judge Leon said on Wednesday, September 4, that the health care markets at issue in the case “are not only very competitive today, but are likely to remain so post-merger.”  The settlement “is well within the reaches of the public interest,” the judge concluded, according to Dow Jones.

Full Content: Reuters

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