WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has dropped its antitrust concerns about health insurer WellPoint Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Amerigroup Corp., the Justice Department said Wednesday, clearing WellPoint to proceed with the $4.46 billion deal.

Justice officials had objected to the proposed merger because WellPoint and Amerigroup are the only two providers of Medicaid managed care plans in northern Virginia. The merger "would have substantially lessened competition" by creating a monopoly in Medicaid managed care in nine counties and four cities in the region, the Justice Department said.

To address that concern, Amerigroup agreed to sell its Virginia business, Amerigroup Virginia Inc., to the Inova Health System Foundation. It did not disclose financial terms of that deal, which was announced in September and is conditioned on the closing of the WellPoint-Amerigroup merger.