After weeks of rumors at least one potential deal in the health insurance industry is out in the open - but it may be going nowhere. On Sunday Bloomfield’s Cigna publicly rejected an offer from Anthem, calling the $47 billion bid "deeply disappointing."
A letter from senior management at the Connecticut company criticized Anthem for its lack of growth strategies and for the huge data breach earlier this year that exposed the personal information of about 80 million people.
Anthem has revealed that it has made four separate offers for Cigna. CEO Joe Swedish said he doubts that investors support Cigna’s negative stance on the potential merger. One of the main sticking points for Cigna is whether Swedish or Cigna’s leader David Cordani would head up the combined company.
The Cigna-Anthem combination is only one of the deals being contemplated in the industry among the five biggest insurers. Cigna and fellow Connecticut company Aetna are said to be vying to acquire Humana, and UnitedHealth has made an approach for Aetna.
The merger frenzy comes as companies have been grappling with the changes in healthcare that have followed the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Insurers are attempting to build their business in the Medicare Advantage market, which is one of the fastest growing sectors.
