A federal judge has blocked major health insurer Anthem from acquiring Cigna, ruling that it would unacceptably consolidate the industry.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson wasn’t convinced by Anthem’s argument that the proposed megamerger would ultimately benefit consumers by giving it more negotiating power with health providers.
Instead, she said the $48 billion merger would violate antitrust laws by reducing competition.
“This is not a cognizable defense to an antitrust case,” she wrote. “The antitrust laws are designed to protect competition, and the claimed efficiencies do not arise out of, or facilitate, competition.”
It’s the second big insurer acquisition to be blocked this year. Last month, another federal judge blocked Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana for similar reasons: That it would go too far in consolidating the health insurance industry, from five major health insurers down to just three.
The Justice Department under the Obama administration had sought to block both mergers. The ruling will most likely kill the proposed Anthem-Cigna deal.
