A battle over the effects of health care industryconsolidation has broken out inWashington, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years.

Just when it seemed that Americans had become blasé aboutanti-trust matters, the Athem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana deals havebrought the anti-trust soup back to a boil.

Modern Healthcare was on hand last week to report on thehistrionics the mergers have touched off. During a hearing beforethe House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, members ofopposing political parties were shouting at each other across theaisle and health care lobbying groups squared off fromopposite sides of the debate.

The boiling point came after a couple of months of moresedate — but still emotionally loaded — commentary on themergers and what the expected outcome could be if the governmentallowed them to go forward.

Opponents say such mergers will robconsumers of choices and drive up the cost of health care,which was just starting to be controlled by a massive nationwideeffort. The American Medical Association raised concernsbefore the subcommittee, including the specter of fewer choices forphysicians and patients.

Others, such as the American Hospital Association, arguedat the hearing that mergers would improve performance at morehospitals because larger owners can provide members withgreater resources.

“Many small, stand-alone and rural hospitals are particularly inneed of partners,” testified Rick Pollack, CEO of the AmericanHospital Association. “The cost of acquiring and maintainingelectronic health records … can tip the financial balance of theseorganizations.”

At the end of the session, Modern Healthcare reported, not muchhad been achieved beyond an airing of opposing views. But staytuned — more hearings in the House and Senate are scheduled forlater this month.