Of the recent rumored major health carrier acquisitions, the first official agreement was announced today, July 3, 2015. Aetna and Humana agreed to a $37 billion deal. See official announcement here.
The approval and acquisition process is expected to take at least 12 months. The combined companies would result in Aetna having the largest membership in Medicare Advantage plans. Here is the article from the Wall Street Journal.
Together the new company would cover 33 million people. Only United Healthcare and Anthem cover more people. By revenue measures, Aetna-Humana would be ranked second largest in the nation. Read more in article from Associated Press.