Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Feds try to put the brakes on speedy Anthem-Cigna decision

Reprints
Feds try to put the brakes on speedy Anthem-Cigna decision

Health insurer Anthem Inc., whose planned merger with Cigna Corp. was challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice, is hoping for a quick decision in the antitrust trial, but government attorneys on Thursday urged the federal court overseeing the case not to rush it.

Indianapolis-based Anthem has asked the court to speed up proceedings and start the antitrust trial in roughly three months, according to court documents filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Given deadlines in the merger agreement and the need to obtain regulatory approval from certain state insurance commissions, Anthem wishes to promptly address the timing for trial,” Anthem said in the court papers.

Anthem and Cigna's merger agreement allows Cigna to bow out of the deal on April 30, 2017, and Cigna could be entitled to a $1.85 billion breakup fee if the deal doesn't close. The insurers also have obtained only 12 of 26 state approvals needed to combine.

Anthem asked to speed up the process as the court did in the 2004 trial between the Federal Trade Commission and coal mining company Arch Coal Inc. over anticompetitive concerns in a merger, in which the trial began 88 days after the FTC filed its complaint and the injunction was denied within 35 days of the trial, according to court documents.

Anthem Chairman, President and CEO Joseph Swedish on Wednesday also told investment analysts that he expects the trial to begin in October and last for about four months.

But government attorneys on Thursday filed a response in court arguing the case is too complex for such a hurried schedule, pointing out that Anthem intends to argue every major issue in the case and could still offer another remedy to the Justice Department's anticompetitive concerns.

The government added that Anthem and Cigna “are free to extend” the April 30 deadline in their merger agreement.

“This matter should not be rushed to trial. At the appropriate time, a trial date should be set that allows both parties a full opportunity to develop the factual record needed for this court to make an informed decision,” the government attorneys stated.

Read Next

  • Year in pictures

    In totaling up the insurance bill for 2015, Munich Reinsurance Co. on Monday noted that losses from natural catastrophes fell last year from 2014. But that doesn't mean nothing went on. Business Insurance looks back at 2015 in pictures.