...April) In prior Federal court actions, the Federal District Court in DC, based on action by the US Department of Justice, first denied the merger on 8 February on antitrust and anti-competitive grounds [TTA 9 Feb]. Unlike the also denied Aetna-Humana merger, it was publicly known, to the point where it was cited in the District Court decision, that the companies had significant disagreements on the merger. After the denial, Anthem wasted no time in appealing for a reversal of the decision with the DC Court of Appeals. Cigna lost no time in initially wanting no part of any appeal... Continue Reading
Search Results for CVS-Aetna
Anthem to Cigna: That’s Sabotage! You’re staying, like it or not! (updated 21 Feb)
...But you hate each other and have from the start. Playing the game of Who Blinks First, and the distraction of a long and bitter legal battle, cannot be anything other than harmful to your members, employees, doctor and health system providers, your bottom lines, and your future. This is not the airline business, beverages or detergent. It’s people’s lives here–have you both forgotten? Enough! Stop now! Get back to the business of healthcare! Previously and related in TTA: Cigna to Anthem: we’re calling it off too, Aetna’s Bertolini to Humana: let’s call the whole thing off, Anthem-Cigna merger nixed... Continue Reading
Cigna to Anthem: we’re calling it off too–and we want $13 bn in damages!
...on health care services over sick care financing has never been more critical.” There is also an updated statement about their share repurchasing authority: “Cigna is also announcing that its Board of Directors has expanded the company’s share repurchase authority to an aggregate amount of $3.7 billion. Management has determined that it is prudent to cap the amount of the repurchase to $250 million per quarter until there is more clarity with respect to the litigation with Anthem.” No press response yet from Anthem. Stay tuned. Also CNBC Earlier today: Aetna’s Bertolini to Humana: Let’s call the whole thing off... Continue Reading
Updated: Aetna’s Bertolini to Humana: Let’s call the whole thing off.
...moot point.) It is ironic that Aetna’s exit from exchange policies due to unprofitability (or not, as it turned out to be in a few cases) proved to be one of the many bricks that broke the merger, in Judge Bates’ view. The truth is that Aetna and Humana are hardly alone in fleeing the exchanges, and that they have turned out to be unprofitable, as predicted. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/aetna-tweet.jpg” thumb_width=”250″ /]Consistent with their behavior over the 19 months of the proposed merger, both Aetna and Humana are publicly respectful, unlike…. These other two will never be one, something must be... Continue Reading
Towards 2020: Big Tech developments predicted to impact healthcare delivery
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Gartner-curve.png” thumb_width=”175″ /]Healthcare doesn’t stand outside major technology trends, and two we’ve covered extensively are machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), which this Editor observed [TTA 3 Feb] may beat out Massive Data Crunchers like IBM Watson Health for many diagnoses. What has been ‘bubbling up’ in the past year is blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin which is a ‘distributed, secure transaction ledger’ that uses a private key. Each record block has an identifying hash that links each block into a virtual chain [TTA 16 July]. Brian Ahier, Director of Standards and Government Affairs at Medicity, Aetna’s data analytics/population... Continue Reading
Anthem-Cigna merger nixed, finally (US)
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Thomas.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] Breaking News. Not with a bang, but a whimper. Late Wednesday 8 Feb, the anticipated decision derailing the $54 million Anthem-Cigna merger was released by the Federal District Court, District of Columbia. Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s decision denying the merger was very much along the anti-competitive and anti-trust rationales contained in the 19 January advance report by the New York Post. There’s little that hasn’t already been explored in our prior reports, so we will leave the rehashing to sources like CNBC. The general consensus is that the four Big Payer Merger participants (Aetna and Humana... Continue Reading
Updates on Anthem-Cigna, Aetna-Humana mergers
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Thomas.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]For our Readers following the Continuing Soap Opera which involves the payer mergers of Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna, some updates: Anthem-Cigna still undecided by despite our 19 January report that the merger would be denied by Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Reading the SEC 8-K filed in July 2015, the extension to 30 April is automatic if the merger is not consummated or is non-appealable by 31 January. Likely this is to Cigna’s chagrin, as multiple sources over the two years this has been going on have detailed the... Continue Reading
Breaking: Aetna-Humana merger blocked by Federal court
Breaking News from Washington Judge John B. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled today (23 Jan), as expected, against the merger of insurance giants Aetna and Humana. Grounds cited were the reduction in competition for Medicare Advantage plans, where both companies compete. “In this case, the government alleged that the merger of Aetna and Humana would be likely to substantially lessen competition in markets for individual Medicare Advantage plans and health insurance sold on the public exchanges.” The decision could be appealed in the US Appeals Court for the DC Circuit, or could be... Continue Reading
DC District Court judge to block Anthem-Cigna merger: report
...participation”. Earlier reports publicized that Cigna hoped that the DOJ lawsuit would have killed the merger; now Cigna wants no extension and to collect its $1.85 bn breakup fee. Sounds like a Fatal Case of Merger Remorse. Stay tuned. The separate Aetna-Humana hearing concluded on 30 December under a different DC District Judge, John D. Bates. Arguments here focused on overlaps in two areas: exchange policies (sold by Aetna in only four states, with overlap in 17 counties) and Medicare Advantage monopolies or near-monopolies. The judge’s ruling is still pending. Bloomberg, Hartford Courant, which lets hometown Aetna have its say.... Continue Reading
Off to DC court we go: Anthem-Cigna, Aetna-Humana merger trials (US)
...which are judged on the county-state level, will be most significant with a combined Aetna-Humana having 40-50 percent market share in many counties. This triggers divestiture in current regulations. These mergers rarely go to court after a DOJ action, so all eyes are on DC. An added fillip is that many expected the lawsuit to be the final kibosh on a Anthem-Cigna deal where reports of conflicts on future management and governance of a single entity were frequent. It wasn’t–and DOJ reportedly will be using documentation on the governance clash to demonstrate why it should not take place. The $38... Continue Reading
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