Follow Up: Anthem Merger Bid For Cigna Is Scuttled

A federal appeals court upheld the earlier decision of a lower court regarding the proposed merger of two of the largest healthcare insurance providers: Anthem and Cigna. The court opinion cited concerns about cost impacts to the consumer and the lack of competition in the healthcare insurance marketplace as the main issues with the proposed deal.

The backlash against this proposed marriage of two of the top three largest insurance providers had reached a critical mass in recent days. The pressure came from a variety of interested parties within the healthcare industry as well as from consumer interest groups.

The situation is further complicated because Anthem and Cigna are currently in a lawsuit against one another regarding that “breakup fee” clause that I detailed in my earlier coverage of this proposed mega-deal. The clause entails that Anthem pays Cigna $1.85 billion if this merger was to be derailed and not come to fruition.

Cigna is suing Anthem demanding payment of the fee. Anthem is counter-suing trying to force Cigna to stay in the merger deal. The resistance from several states and the federal government caused Cigna to look for ways to exit the deal. This situation has grown ugly very quickly, and the legal team for Anthem seems undeterred by this ruling. They are insisting they are going to find a way to gain approval for this merger.

Anthem and their legal team can spin this any way they would like, and they have 1.8 billion reasons why they are looking to pursue this merger. The reality is that the proposal is all but scuttled. The appeals court decision today affirms that and should be viewed as an indication that this proposal should be abandoned.
The lawsuits are another whole matter that is entirely separate and could take several different routes throughout that convoluted process. The regulatory reviews from the different government agencies ultimately had concerns about pricing and the monopolistic impact that the merger would have on consumer choice.

The combined Anthem/Cigna also would have been a major player in the provision of healthcare insurance to the business community. The potential influence on pricing and the subsequent effect that would have on the employee/employer splits on cost sharing for company provided healthcare coverage was a huge issue for certain states as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals.

This development comes just a few months after the Aetna – Humana proposed merger also collapsed during the review process. These mergers are the direct result of the consolidation route to optimize efficiency and maintain profitability during healthcare market changes due to the Affordable Care Act.

It should be noted that the proposed new healthcare plan changes are not fully known at this time, so the exact impact on the market is also unclear. The relentless pursuit of greed by these corporations in the healthcare industry is at the center of this particular situation.

The future of the Anthem/ Cigna proposed merger from the judicial perspective is either a “challenge” ruling on this verdict, which means that they can re-appeal this decision from the federal court. The other option is to attempt to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and see if they are granted a writ of certiorari to move that proceeding forward.

Some industry analysts and media types feel that a writ of certiorari is unlikely in this situation. The component that makes a Supreme Court review possible is the money involved with two companies of this size and the high powered legal representation that is involved in this case. It should be interesting to see how Anthem plans to move forward because they have the most at stake with the breakup clause taken under consideration.

The merger, for all intents and purposes, is opposed by about a dozen states and the federal court system as well as the regulatory bodies involved. This creates conditions where it is unlikely that it moves forward. The court ruling today cited this decision under the framework that it is a victory for the consumer because of the potential impact on pricing the combined entity could have exerted.

In my view, from covering mergers, I am not a proponent of monopolies. I also have learned that the bigger the merger in size, the more combustible it is when it becomes unraveled. This proposal is setback significantly, but it is not over yet. Anthem will not go quietly into the night paying a fee to Cigna, and Cigna is going to want the money from Anthem based on the agreement they had in place. It is going to get ugly in the weeks ahead, but most likely these two companies will be going toe-to-toe and not on their way to a monopoly styled merger.

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