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Anthem Inc. has used the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand names as a powerful tool on its way to becoming the nation’s second-largest health insurer. But those Blue brands now are a hurdle for Anthem’s $54.2 billion acquisition of Cigna Corp. Anthem executives are confident they can leap over that hurdle, but it’s not a foregone conclusion. (Wall, 8/8)

Shares of health insurer Centene fell in early trading Friday before rebounding, a day after the Chicago Tribune reported that one of the firm's subsidiaries will lose a Medicaid contract with Cook County valued at up to $1.8 billion over five years. A spokeswoman at Cook County Health and Hospitals System confirmed Thursday that it plans to find a replacement for IlliniCare Health, a division of St. Louis-based Centene, to run its Medicaid managed care plan. The county posted a request for bids Tuesday. (Herbling and Sachdev, 8/7)