Research Details

Abstract

In July 2015, Anthem announced its intention to acquire Cigna. A year later, the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the deal. In May 2017, after a series of court defeats, Anthem dropped its acquisition plans. This perspective describes the key arguments presented at trial and summarizes the court findings. The most contentious issue was whether the merger would drive down payments to medical providers and if the resulting savings would qualify as “cognizable efficiencies” that could justify an otherwise anticompetitive merger.

Type

Article

Author(s)

David Dranove

Date Published

2017

Citations

Dranove, David. 2017. The Anthem-Cigna Merger: A Post Mortem. Health Affairs.