Cigna on Thursday finalized its $67 billion merger with Express Scripts, a landmark deal that promises to transform the healthcare system and usher in a new era of competition between hybrids of insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.
“Together, we are establishing a blueprint for personalized, whole person health care, further enhancing our ability to put the customer at the center of all we do by creating a flexible, open and connected model that improves affordability, choice and predictability,” David Cordani, Cigna’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The Department of Justice approved the merger in September, stating that it was “unlikely to lessen competition substantially” among pharmacy benefit managers, the third-party companies that manage prescription drug programs for large corporations and other clients.
The new company is poised to compete head-to-head against the also newly combined Aetna-CVS Health entity — a deal that continues to face scrutiny from a federal judge in Washington, D.C. — and Amazon, which could soon enter into the prescription drug delivery business.
The Trump administration is also expected to try to overhaul the existing drug rebate program, a change that could upend negotiations between pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical companies on the prices clients pay for treatments.
