Anthem Inc said on Friday it would buy Cigna Corp for about $54.2 billion, creating the largest U.S. health insurer by membership and accelerating the industry’s consolidation from five national players to three.
The proposed acquisition, the health insurance industry’s largest, comes three weeks after Aetna Inc agreed to buy Humana Inc for $37 billion.
Anthem said buying Cigna would help it reduce costs and negotiate lower prices with doctors and hospitals.
State insurance regulators and federal antitrust authorities are expected to scrutinize how the Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana deals would affect competition for Medicare and individual and commercial insurance.
Full content: The Wall Street Journal
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