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US: Antitrust officials poised to block Anthem, Aetna deals: Bloomberg

By  |  July 19, 2016

US antitrust officials are poised to file lawsuits to block Anthem Inc’s acquisition of Cigna Corp as well as Aetna Inc’s takeover of Humana Inc, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Antitrust regulators have been scrutinizing the deals and looking at the potential for higher prices if the insurance market consolidates so that Anthem, Aetna and UnitedHealth Group Inc, which is not involved in these deals, are the last three national health insurers.

Skepticism that the Anthem-Cigna deal would pass muster has been high for most of that review process, but investors were betting that the Aetna-Humana combination was less troublesome and could be approved if the companies sold some assets.

The department’s decision could be announced by the end of next week, the source familiar with the matter added.

Bloomberg first reported that the Justice Department had decided to sue to block the mergers.

Full Content: Washington Post

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