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A federal judge said Wednesday that he would begin trial proceedings on Dec. 5 in the Justice Department’s antitrust challenge to the proposed merger of Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. The start date is a compromise between the proposals of the two sides, but it also amounted to a setback for the insurance companies. When he opened a scheduling hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Bates said he was leaning toward an early November trial, which would have allowed him to decide the case before the end of the year. (Kendall, 8/10)

A federal judge is set to hear the looming antitrust challenge against Aetna and Humana's proposed $37 billion merger in December, with a decision coming in mid-January. According to media reports, U.S. District Judge John Bates scheduled the highly anticipated trial for a Dec. 5 start date during a status conference in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday. (Teichert, 8/10)

Health insurers Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. will go to trial against the U.S. on Dec. 5 in defense of their planned $37 billion merger, pushing a judge’s decision on the tie-up beyond their deadline for completing the deal by year-end. The decision on the trial’s timing came Wednesday after the Justice Department tried to persuade U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington to delay the start until January, after the companies’ self-imposed Dec. 31 merger deadline. (Harris and McLaughlin, 8/10)