Giant health insurers fighting legal action against their merger plans will get their wish for separate trials. The D.C.-area judge who was charged with hearing the government’s anti-trust suits against Anthem and Aetna said he will only hear one of the cases.
Judge John Bates has passed off consideration of Anthem’s merger with Cigna to another judge. He cited the complexity and importance of the cases, and the need for a tight timeline. The decision means it’s more likely the cases will be decided before the deadline set by the companies for their mergers to be completed.
Russian Aerospace Bounce
In what should be good news for Connecticut’s aerospace industry, plane maker Boeing is forecasting a big increase in demand from Russia and its neighboring countries.
Boeing says its 20 year Current Market Outlook calls for sales of more than a thousand planes in the region, with an overall value of $140 billion. The forecast says Russian carriers are nearing the point where they have to replace an aging fleet of Russian built planes.
More Xerox Layoffs
Restructuring continues at office equipment and services giant Xerox. The Norwalk-based company, which is about to split itself into two standalone publicly-quoted companies, laid off 1,300 people in its worldwide operations in the second quarter. And if that seems like a big number, it was actually a drop from the first quarter, when 4,800 positions were eliminated. Xerox says the ultimate aim is to cut out $2.4 billion in annual costs.
