U.S. court blocks Anthem-Cigna $54 billion deal

By Diane Bartz and Caroline Humer

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc's proposed $54 billion merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp , derailing an unprecedented effort to consolidate the country's health insurance industry.

The U.S. Justice Department sued in July to stop Anthem's purchase of Cigna, a deal that would have created the largest U.S. health insurer by membership, and Aetna Inc's planned $33 billion acquisition of Humana .

On Wednesday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling against Anthem's deal under seal. Last month, a different U.S. judge ruled against Aetna's proposed deal for Humana.

Berman had separated the Justice Department's case into two trials. In one, she weighed arguments over whether the tie-up would hurt the ability of large national employers to get competitive rates for the health coverage they provide workers.

The second trial considered overlaps in the two insurers' business selling health benefits to individuals, and administering Medicare Advantage coverage to the elderly.

Government antitrust officials argued that both deals would lead to less competition and higher prices for Americans. The acquisitions would have reduced the number of large national U.S. insurers from five to three.Cigna is entitled to receive from Anthem a $1.85 billion break-up fee if the deal fails to win regulatory approval. Officials from both companies were not immediately available for comment.

The Justice Department argued that the deal would likely lead to higher prices for big, nationwide employers whose workers use a broad network of services. It additionally argued that the two companies were the biggest options for large-group employers in at least 35 metropolitan areas.

Eleven states and the District of Columbia joined the Justice Department in fighting the deal.

Anthem has argued that merging with Cigna would allow it to get bigger and push down prices to customers. Anthem, the largest member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, has said it is not truly a national insurance company because it is only in 14 states.

(Additional reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay and Dipika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Leslie Adler)