AUG 2, 2016 – Bruce Japsen
Aetna and Humana will sell certain Medicare Advantage assets to Molina Healthcare as the insurers prepare to defend their merger against a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit.
In addition, Aetna said its worsening performance on public exchanges has forced the company to rethink its 2017 expansion plans and evaluate all of its individual plans in 15 states where it currently sells Obamacare, company chairman Mark Bertolini said Tuesday. Humana has already said it is pulling off most ACA exchanges for next year. And rival UnitedHealth Group UNH -0.07%, too, is scaling back to three states, leaving Anthem WLP +% and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans as the main Obamacare providers across the country. 
Aetna AET -0.62% and Humana HUM -0.19% said they have entered into separate agreements to sell Medicare Advantage assets to Molina Healthcare for $117 million in cash. “Molina is expected to gain approximately 290,000 Medicare Advantage members in 21 states, preserving robust competition for seniors choosing to receive Medicare coverage through Medicare Advantage plans and addressing a key concern of the U.S. Department of Justice in its challenge to the Aetna-Humana transaction,” Aetna said in a statement.