AG Coakley on Health Insurer Merger: We're On It

This morning, WBUR's Curt Nickisch was at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast where Attorney General Martha Coakley spoke. He reports:

Coakley says she’s already reached out to two of the state’s largest health insurers, who say they’re exploring a merger. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan say joining forces will help them cut administrative costs and save consumers money. But any merger would first have to be approved by the AG. And Coakley told Boston business leaders this morning that her office is already looking at the anti-competitive issues of removing a major player from the state’s health insurance market.

"Our role should be to identify early on for the two parties involved issues that we see," she said. "Can we address them? We’re not going to sit by the sidelines, wait until the merger, and then jump out and say, 'Hey, you guys can’t do this!“ because of something. We want to be active and involved going forward. And we are keeping an open mind about it.

The state’s Division of Insurance also has to approve any merger.