Cigna Makes $3.8 Billion Deal To Buy Medicare Carrier
With the purchase of HealthSpring, Cigna will become a major source of both Medicare prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage coverage.
The Wall Street Journal: Cigna To Buy Medicare Carrier HealthSpring For $3.8 Billion
Cigna Corp.'s $3.8 billion deal to buy Medicare carrier HealthSpring Inc. is the latest sign of how health-insurance companies are increasingly oriented toward government business, a move that brings both opportunities and risk. The deal represents a change in the balance of Cigna, which has long been primarily focused on employers but will now also be a major source of both Medicare prescription-drug plans and Medicare Advantage coverage, the private insurers' version of the government program (Mathews and Kamp, 10/25).
The Associated Press: Insurer Cigna To Buy HealthSpring For $3.8 Billion To Boost Medicare Advantage Business
Cigna Corp. will buy fellow health insurer HealthSpring Inc. in a $3.8 billion deal as it becomes the latest managed-care company to snap up a bigger share of the fast-growing Medicare Advantage market (Neergaard, 10/24).
Reuters: Cigna To buy Medicare Co HealthSpring For $3.8 Billion
Health insurer Cigna Corp will buy HealthSpring Inc for $3.8 billion to jump-start its business selling Medicare plans as more elderly Americans become eligible for the U.S. government program. Medicare is an enticing market for U.S. health insurers, even as Congress weighs cuts to the program to rein in the country's debt. In particular, the entry of the postwar baby boom generation into retirement is expected to swell the ranks of privately run Medicare Advantage plans, which now account for 25 percent of Medicare enrollment, compared with 75 percent for government-run plans (Krauskopf, 10/24).
Market Watch: Cigna To Buy HealthSpring For $3.8 Billion
Health-insurance giant Cigna Corp. said Monday it will pay $3.8 billion in cash to acquire the shares of HealthSpring Inc. The price, $55 a share, that Cigna is paying represents a 37% premium over Friday’s closing stock price for HealthSpring. The news catapulted HealthSpring shares by more than 33%, while Cigna was up about 1.5%. The companies said in a press release that HealthSpring Chairman and Chief Executive Herb Fritch will stay with the united companies, as Cigna will expand into senior and Medicare businesses (Britt, 10/24).
Modern Healthcare: Cigna To Buy HealthSpring In $3.8 Billion Deal
Cigna Corp. said it reached at definitive agreement to buy Medicare Advantage provider HealthSpring for $3.8 billion. Cigna said it would pay $55 per share in an all-cash deal for the Nashville-based HealthSpring, a publicly traded company. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first six months of 2012, according to an announcement by Cigna. Herb Fritch, chairman and CEO of HealthSpring will oversee a push by Cigna into senior and Medicare service lines, the announcement said (Evans, 10/24).
Bloomberg: Cigna Will Buy Healthspring For $3.8 Billion To Expand Medicare Business
Cigna Corp. (CI), the fifth-largest U.S. insurer, agreed to buy Healthspring Inc. (HS), a health-maintenance organization, for $3.8 billion in cash to triple the number of Medicare customers it serves…. Medicare managed-care plans are among the fastest-growing products for health insurers as the baby-boom generation ages. With Healthspring, Cigna will add 1.17 million customers served by Medicare, the U.S. health plan for the elderly and disabled (Weschler, 10/24).