Court rules Anthem, Cigna must release correspondence over alleged contract breaches

Anthem and Cigna will need to hand over documents and emails potentially showing the two payers accused each other of breaching their $54 billion acquisition agreement, Hartford Courant reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Anthem and Cigna to release 12 documents and emails and portions of 13 others based on recommendations from a court official overseeing the evidence-gathering process. Government antitrust lawyers asked 40 other documents be released, but Judge Berman Jackson declined because they concerned agreement strategies and not accusations of contract breaches.    

Indianapolis-based Anthem said the documents should remain private and are irrelevant to how top executives will work to achieve savings if Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna is acquired by Anthem, according to the report. However, court officials argue the correspondence could be used as evidence the two insurers do not get along and would lack efficiency as a single entity.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the Anthem-Cigna transaction July 21 over antitrust concerns. The trial is slated for Nov. 21.   

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