Anthem said in an emailed statement that it plans to meet with stakeholders, including hospitals. "Our commitment to ensuring consumers have access to affordable health coverage and quality care is the foundation of the proposed transaction," the statement said. On July 24, Anthem announced plans to buy Cigna for $47 billion, just weeks after Aetna Inc (AET.N) inked an agreement with Humana Inc (HUM.N). The deals will reduce the number of national insurers to three from five. Anthem and Cigna have said they expect the deal to pass antitrust scrutiny and they have considered where asset sales might be needed. The hospital association said in the letter dated Aug. 5 that it doubted Anthem and Cigna would find a suitable buyer for assets that provide insurance plans to millions of customers, also known as covered lives. "In the 817 at-risk markets, over half the lives that need to be divested reside across 368 (metro regions) and rural counties with no divestiture possibility," the group wrote.