Anthem's Cigna takeover bid blocked by federal judge

A federal judge yesterday blocked Anthem's attempt to acquire Cigna for $54 billion.

The deal would have created the largest health insurer in the nation.

District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, which in July last year sued to halt the merger.

"They propose to create the single largest seller of medical health care coverage to large commercial accounts, in a market in which there are only four national carriers still standing," the order reads. "The evidence has shown that the merger is likely to result in higher prices, and that it will have other anticompetitive effects."

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