“The American Medical Association commends California Department of Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones for taking a strong stand against the proposed merger between CVS Health Corporation and Aetna. We urge other state regulators to review the evidence and take similar action.

"The AMA agrees with Commissioner Jones that allowing this anticompetitive merger to proceed likely would harm consumers. If left unblocked, there is every indication that the merger would raise prices, reduce choice and stifle innovation in five poorly performing markets: Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plan, pharmacy benefit management services, health insurance, retail pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy.

“Commissioner Jones extensively cited evidence presented by the AMA and prominent experts in antitrust law, economics and health policy demonstrating that there are no potential benefits of sufficient magnitude and certainty that would outweigh the anticompetitive effects of the proposed merger.”