FILE – This Feb. 5, 2015 file photo shows the Anthem logo at the health insurer’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. Anthem reports quarterly financial results on Wednesday, April 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File) Anthem and Cigna combined
* 53 million medical members * $115 billion in revenues * Joseph Swedish is CEO and David Cordani was president and chief operating officer * The combined company will be the biggest health insurer in America, surpassing United HealthCare
This Aug 4, 2011, file photo shows the Cigna logo at the headquarters of the health insurer Cigna Corp. in Philadelphia. Anthem is buying rival Cigna for $48 billion in a deal that would create the nation’s largest health insurer by enrollment, covering about 53 million U.S patients.
In just three weeks, starting with Aetna’s $35 billion bid for Humana Inc. on July 3, the landscape of U.S. health care has been altered in a buyout frenzy that could transform five massive U.S. health companies into just three, including UnitedHealth Group.
Larger insurers have negotiating power to squeeze better rates from drug companies and health care providers. But the wave of consolidation could lead to fewer choices for consumers in certain markets. Regulators scrutinizing the two mega-deals will be trying to assess whether these combined companies would have so much power that they could dominate markets and drive already high health-care costs even higher.
Employer-sponsored health insurance is growing slowly and with the recent overhaul of the nation’s health care system, providers are jostling for the largest share of the millions of people who have signed up.