The attorneys general from five states reinforced their support for the Department of Justice and asked a federal judge if they could join a hearing on CVS Health's takeover of Aetna, according to court documents.
The AGs from California, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington filed a supplemental statement to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia June 28. In the statement, the AGs said a review of testimony and court documents "affirmed our belief that the horizontal aspects of the merger presented anticompetitive issues and that the proposed [Medicare Part D] divestiture provides an effective and appropriate remedy for the antitrust violations alleged in the complaint. Therefore, plaintiff states reaffirm our support for approval of the proposed final judgment by the court as being in the public interest."
The states also asked to address the court for 10 minutes during a hearing for oral arguments scheduled for July 17.
In June, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrapped up two days of hearings on CVS Health's $69 billion takeover of Aetna and scheduled more oral arguments on the deal in July. He has questioned whether the DOJ's deal to address any anticompetitive concerns with the merger is sufficient.
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