Anthem Inc.’s proposed merger with Cigna Corp.would reduce health-care competition and raise costs for consumers,U.S. antitrust lawyers will argue Monday when the government goesto court to block the transaction.

Their $48 billion merger -- the biggest in the history of theAmerican health-insurance industry -- would likely give theenlarged company the power to raise prices for insurance, cutpayments to doctors and reduce the quality of service, the JusticeDepartment has said in court papers.

Anthem counters that by buying Cigna it would be able to lowerreimbursement rates to health-care providers. Those savings wouldbe passed on to employers and policyholders,the Indianapolis-based company says.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.