Humana Inc. Chief Executive Officer BruceBroussard extolled his company’s fit with rival Aetna Inc. as the insurers began making theircase for combining in a $37 billion deal that the U.S. seeks toblock.

Broussard told the judge who will decide whether to let the dealproceed that he and Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini hit it off when theyfirst met.

“We almost finished each other’s sentences,” Broussard saidTuesday, recalling his rainy day encounter with the Aetna CEO inwhich they shared their “passion” for making a difference in theirindustry. On the witness stand, he described the “complementarycapabilities” of their companies.

Humana’s head was the first defense witness called after JusticeDepartment lawyers rested their case on the seventh day of theantitrust trial in Washington. The U.S. seeks an order blocking thedeal as harmful to seniors in 21 states who are insured by thegovernment’s Medicare Advantage program.

Aetna and Humana dispute the notion that theprogram, which functions like a health maintenance organization, issufficiently distinct from the original fee-for-service Medicareprogram to qualify as a separate market. In any case, the Centerfor Medicare and Medicaid Services regulates both programs soclosely that their combined companies couldn’t dominate it, theycontend.

Broussard’s characterization of his Bertolini meeting stands instark contrast to the combative relationship between healthinsurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp., which are fighting a U.S.lawsuit aimed at halting their $48 billion tie-up in a trial beforea different federal judge in the same courthouse. Even as Anthemand Cigna mount a common defense in court, each accuses the otherof violating their agreement.

The government filed both suits in July, attempting to avoidcontraction of that industry to just a handful of major players.Humana’s Broussard told U.S. District Judge John Bates on Tuesdaythat market retrenchment after the 2014 activation of theAffordable Care Act prompted his Louisville, Kentucky-based companyto search for a suitor.

Humana, which derives 75 percent of its business from thegovernment’s Medicare programs, is unique in the health-caremarket, making it a natural merger candidate, he said. It was alsolosing money on insurance exchanges set up under Obamacare.

Dropping Obamacare

“It was terrible,” Broussard said of a three-year period inwhich it lost about $1.5 billion. Humana and Aetna are withdrawingfrom some Obamacare exchanges, a move the U.S. has alleged wasmotivated not by financial losses, but an effort to win antitrustapproval.

Humana has withdrawn from ACA coverage in at least four of the15 states where it handled that business, Broussard told JusticeDepartment lawyer Eric Mahr on cross-examination. Asked if it wasexiting all of the exchanges, Broussard said the government was oneof Humana’s largest customers and that the insurer was trying tosupport its efforts.

The case is U.S. v. Aetna Inc., 16-cv-1494, U.S. District Court,District of Columbia (Washington).

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