Merger mania has swept the industry, with health insurance giant Anthem attempting to acquire competitor Cigna for an estimated value of $54 billion since last year. The deal has already been approved in several states. But given that the companies are two of only five major national health insurers, it has also been heavily scrutinized by many regulators due to antitrust concerns.
After the U.S. Justice Department filed lawsuits on July 21 to block Anthem’s acquisition of Cigna, as well as Aetna’s $37 billion acquisition of Humana, news came out about Cigna having second thoughts about its pending merger. Connecticut, California, and several other states are also involved in the lawsuit against Anthem and Cigna.
The deal is still for now and the health insurance giants are grappling with the resources they have to streamline court proceedings before their contractual deadline (April 30, 2017). The court trial is scheduled to begin on November 21 and this is their story: