Dive Brief:
- Aetna has bolstered its roster of lobbying firms as it pursues government approval of its pending $37 billion acquisition of Humana.
- Aetna brought on four Washington-based firms last week, on top of two already working on its behalf, reports Politico. The latest four are Bloom Strategic Counsel, CGCN Group, The Gibson Group and West Front Strategies, and the other two are Capitol Hill Consulting Group and Sidley Austin.
- Aetna has previously been noted as a high political spender and has received some criticism for it, notes Modern Healthcare, which finds that it spent almost $6 million on federal and state lobbying expenses in 2013.
Dive Insight:
The combined connections of all the lobbying firms can be expected to provide Aetna significant influence in Washington, as regulators determine whether the Aetna/Humana deal would violate antitrust rules.
As Modern Healthcare notes, some of the key connections on Aetna's side will include:
- Seth Bloom of Bloom Strategic Counsel, who served as the former general counsel of the Senate's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
- CGCN Group's Mike Catanzaro and Jay Cranford, who have notable ties to Republican House Speaker John Boehner
- Joseph Gibson of The Gibson Group, former chief minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, noted for relationships to numerous congressional Republicans.
- West Front Strategies' Shimmy Stein, who has previously worked in the Justice Department and served as a senior policy adviser for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Aetna is also reported to be refiling its federal review notice of the proposed merger in order to give federal antitrust regulators an additional month to review it, according to Business Insurance.