Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fresh Details Of Behind-The-Scenes Rift Between Anthem, Cigna Revealed
Newly unsealed court testimony shows health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. have significant disagreements about their proposed merger, offering fresh details about a rift that is highly unusual for two companies seeking to press ahead with such a deal. A trial on the planned merger began last week after the Justice Department decided to challenge it on antitrust grounds. (Kendall and Wilde Mathews, 11/28)
Anthem Inc.鈥檚 proposed $48 billion merger with Cigna Corp. could give the insurer the power to raise prices for employers both in the 14 states where it does business, as well as across the country, according to a witness in the U.S. government鈥檚 lawsuit to block the deal. 鈥淭he merger will harm competition in the market for national accounts鈥 as well as in states where Anthem operates, said David Dranove, a health-care economics professor at Northwestern University鈥檚 Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. Dranove told U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson that the combined company could impose a price increase in the range of five percent to 10 percent without losing business simply because there would be one less option available. (Harris, 11/28)