, Columnist
If Big Health Deals Are a Go, Why Not Anthem-Humana?
It's a speculative leap, but let's take it.
How wide is the M&A door?
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The market believes that two vertical health-care mega-mergers — CVS Health Inc.’s purchase of Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp.’s deal for Express Scripts Holding Co. — have a greater chance of success after a judge gave AT&T Inc.’s purchase of Time Warner Inc. the go-ahead late Tuesday.
That’s not an unreasonable leap. I’m going to take a bigger one, and it’s about Anthem Inc. In spite of the fact that its attempted purchase of Cigna dissolved into lawsuits and sniping under government scrutiny last year, I think there’s a better chance today that the Anthem will consider a bid for another rival health insurer: Humana Inc.