The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file lawsuits to block two major health insurance mergers that would reduce the country’s big insurers from five to just three, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
Soures told Bloomberg that U.S. anti-trust officials plan to try to block Anthem’s deal to buy Cigna Corp. and Aetna’s proposed deal to take over Humana. They are reportedly concerned the mergers would ultimately harm customers by consolidating the insurance industry too much and hurting competition.
The DOJ declined to comment, according to the report, which said the final decision to sue could come this week. Shares of Humana and Cigna both fell sharply at the news. Both deals have been pending for months, as anti-trust officials reviewed them.
