WSJ: Antitrust Regulators Concerned About Anthem-Cigna Merger

(RTTNews) - U.S. antitrust regulators have privately expressed concerns about Anthem Inc.'s (ANTM) $48 billion proposed acquisition of Cigna Corp. (CI), and are skeptical that the health insurers can offer concessions that would fully preserve competition in the industry, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Company representatives met June 10 in Washington with Justice Department staffers and representatives of more than a dozen state attorneys general. At the meeting, government officials outlined their worries about combining two of the nation's top health insurers, the Journal said.

Merging companies sometimes can win government approval by offering to sell assets or agreeing to other restrictions on their operations, but government staffers told the companies they weren't optimistic Anthem and Cigna could offer satisfactory fixes, the report said.

The report noted that the companies have other meetings scheduled for this coming week with top Justice Department officials. Such meetings give companies a chance to make their case to decision makers about why a deal wouldn't hurt competition. The department hasn't yet made a decision on whether to sue to block the deal.

As of early May, Anthem and Cigna were expecting a decision on approval from the department by July 2. The companies now expect to hear by mid-July, the paper said.

In the meeting earlier this month, Justice Department officials reportedly said they believed the deal would shrink the number of competitors to three from four. In addition to Anthem and Cigna, that list includes Aetna and UnitedHealth Group Inc.