Anthem and Cigna Set for Court Fight to Save $48 Billion Merger

By Andrew M Harrisand David McLaughlin, Bloomberg News

Anthem Inc.’s proposed merger with Cigna Corp. would reduce health-care competition and raise costs for consumers, U.S. antitrust lawyers will argue Monday when the government goes to court to block the transaction.

Their $48 billion merger -- the biggest in the history of the American health-insurance industry -- would likely give the enlarged company the power to raise prices for insurance, cut payments to doctors and reduce the quality of service, the Justice Department has said in court papers.

Anthem counters that by buying Cigna it would be able to ...