Mergers and Monopsony: The Anthem-Cigna Merger
Antitrust Economics in a Time of Upheaval: Recent Competition Policy Cases on Two Continents, Ch. 7, pp. 148–172, 2023
Analysis Group academic affiliate David Dranove (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University) and Managing Principals Dov Rothman and Samuel Weglein have contributed a chapter on the Anthem-Cigna merger for a compendium of case studies exploring the evolving role of economic analysis in competition policy and enforcement. The compendium, Antitrust Economics in a Time of Upheaval: Recent Competition Policy Cases on Two Continents, is published by Competition Policy International (CPI).
The authors discuss the key economic issues raised at trial in US, et al. v. Anthem Inc., et al., in which the US Department of Justice (DOJ) challenged the proposed merger of Anthem and Cigna and Professor Dranove testified. These issues included the potential effects of the merger on self-insured employers and health care providers, as well as on the pace of innovation in the health care industry.
The chapter addresses these issues by discussing the relationship between sell-side and buy-side market power and the potential impact of the proposed merger on innovation. The authors conclude by suggesting avenues for research that might inform litigants of similar merger cases going forward.
Academic affiliate Edward Snyder of the Yale School of Management also contributed a chapter on foreign exchange (FX) trading litigation for CPI’s compendium.
Read the book from CPI (paywall)
Read a case description of US, et al. v. Anthem Inc., et al.
Read more about Dr. Dranove’s testimony in Forum