US: DC judge shuffles megamerger cases, hands off Anthem/Cigna suit

A federal judge has agreed to hear one of the insurance mega-merger cases but has handed off the other.

Bloomberg reports that US District Judge John Bates, in Washington, DC, said Friday that he would hear Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc.’s case in court. The companies are fighting antitrust regulators, who filed a lawsuit to block Aetna’s proposed $37 billion purchase of Louisville-based Humana.

Bates handed off a similar case involing two other big insurers, Cigna. and Anthem Inc., to another judge, who has yet to be assigned.

The US Department of Justice sued to block the two deals at the same time. The DOJ wanted the cases to be heard together, but the buying companies have asked for them to be heard separately.

Both Aetna and Anthem also asked for the cases to be heard in the fall, though the DOJ said it wouldn’t be ready until February. Aetna wanted its case to go first, in hopes of getting the matter decided of ahead of its Dec. 31 deadline to close the $37 billion deal, which was announced last year.

Bloomberg reports that this deadline is the reason that Bates decided to separate the cases and hear Humana and Aetna’s case first.

“Given the complexity and importance of these cases, the court cannot feasibly try and decide both in that time frame,” Bates wrote in a ruling cited by the publication. “Ultimately, it will be fairer to the parties and better for the public if one of the cases is randomly reassigned to another judge in this district, who can give it prompt and full attention while this judge does the same with the other.”

Full Content: Health Care Dive

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