Anthem terminates agreement to acquire Cigna
Anthem is its merger agreement with Cigna after a Delaware court denied the health insurer鈥檚 request for a temporary restraining order to stop Cigna from terminating the agreement. AHA has advocated against the deal since it was in July 2015, vigorously supporting the Department of Justice鈥檚 challenge of the acquisition and providing extensive input to federal officials about the negative impacts that would result. When the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the proposed acquisition early this year, Anthem appealed. The AHA then filed a friend-of-the-court urging the court to affirm the lower court鈥檚 decision. As urged by the AHA, the appeals court last month that the district court 鈥渞easonably determined Anthem failed to show the kind of 鈥榚xtraordinary efficiencies鈥 that would be needed to constrain likely price increases in this highly concentrated market, and to mitigate the threatened loss of innovation.鈥