The Indianapolis-based health insurer said its participation in the government’s health insurance exchanges—a sore subject for the Obama administration that is trying to stop the acquisition—may be at stake.
Anthem Inc. shares fell Wednesday after the Indianapolis-based insurer said it expects to lose money on Affordable Care Act plans this year. The company had been planning to break even.
Anthem Inc. told a federal court that its proposed $48 billion merger with rival health insurer Cigna Corp. will lower consumer costs and extend coverage to more people, in response to a U.S. lawsuit seeking to block the deal.
Analysts have speculated Anthem and Cigna would part ways in the wake of a lawsuit the Department of Justice’s Department’s antitrust division filed last week seeking to block the deal.
Anthem Inc.’s proposed purchase of Cigna Corp. would diminish competition between insurers in markets around the nation, according to a complaint filed Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department that painted Anthem in an unflattering light.
The U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Indy-based Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. on Thursday. In recent years, the department has shown an increasing willingness to go to court to block deals it believes could stifle competition.
Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade contends she has no conflict of interest that would prevent her from overseeing a proposed merger between Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. and Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna Corp.
U.S. antitrust officials are poised to file lawsuits to block Anthem Inc.’s takeover of rival health-insurer Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc.’s deal to buy Humana Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Obama administration’s top health official is promoting the importance of competition to insurance markets, as the Justice Department is poised to decide on the massive Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana merger proposals.
The agreement by Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. to sell its pharmacy-benefits arm to St. Louis-based Express Scripts for $4.7 billion has turned the companies at each other’s throats, culminating in a multibillion-dollar legal battle that began early this year.
A breakup of Anthem Inc.’s $48 billion bid for Cigna Corp., under scrutiny by U.S. antitrust regulators, could spark new deals for smaller health plans in a continued wave of industry consolidation.
The U.S. Justice Department has told Anthem Inc. that the insurer’s planned takeover of Cigna Corp. threatens competition and probably can’t be fixed by selling parts of their businesses, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Indianapolis-based health insurer Anthem Inc. said it is not in discussions with Cigna Corp. to end their planned $48 billion merger, as speculation about the health-insurance deal’s fate mounts.
The health insurers are set to meet Friday with the Justice Department’s No. 3 official, a critical moment as the government makes its decision about whether to approve or block the $48 billion deal.
Federal regulators are giving the proposed $48 billion merger between health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp a hard look, and some analysts are hedging their bets.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday called the deal “anti-competitive” and said it would hurt consumers, businesses and the state’s health insurance market.
Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and Warsaw’s Zimmer Biomet Holdings vaulted back among the top 500 this year, while local oil refiner Calumet Specialty Products Partners plummeted.
Anthem, one of Indiana’s largest insurers, is seeking premium hikes ranging from nearly 20 percent to 41 percent for coverage it sells on and off the Affordable Care Act’s public insurance exchanges.
An analyst said the delay could be a sign of trouble for the acquisition.
During his tenure, Wayne DeVeydt helped Anthem navigate through the recession, make the transition into Obamacare and negotiate its planned $54 billion acquisition of rival Cigna Corp.
