What’s Next for Managed Care?
The managed care mega-deals of 2015 have blown up. Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Humana (NYSE: HUM) amicably terminated their $37 billion merger, following a federal judge’s order in January to block the deal on antitrust grounds. The $1 billion termination fee was in the works. A different federal judge blocked Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) and Cigna’s (NYSE: CI) $54.2 billion merger on similar grounds. Things turned ugly quickly, as Cigna declared the deal dead and sued Anthem for the $1.85 billion termination fee, and another $13 billion in damages on behalf of its shareholders. Anthem says it will go ahead with the merger. What do the Big Five health insurers do now that they’re... Read More »
Reporters Notebook: 10th Annual ACG NY Healthcare Conference
The ACG New York chapter held its annual healthcare conference at the Metropolitan Club on February 23, as always, on the last Thursday of the month. We attended, along with more than 400 others involved in the healthcare industry. The evening’s topic, “The 2016 Election and Healthcare: What You Need to Know,” was obviously the big draw. Moderator Michael Gaffin, Marwood Group’s political strategist and head of its Washington office, played his cards close to the vest during most of the panel, but did opine that the Republicans will be able to do whatever they want to the Affordable Care Act, because they’ve been talking about it so long. On the panel were... Read More »2016 Delivered on Health Care M and A
As health care mergers and acquisitions go, 2016 lived up to the predictions that M&A activity would stay strong. Preliminary data for year-end totals shows 1,536 announced transactions across 13 healthcare sectors. The total represents a 1% increase in deal volume compared with 2015. (See chart below.) Spending on those deals was significantly lower than the previous year, at least for now. The combined total spending in 2016 now stands at $255.7 billion, down 36% compared with 2015’s $400.3 billion. Nearly $100 billion of that total now hangs in the balance, as two of 2015’s largest deals (Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana) await decisions from a federal judge regarding... Read More »Managed Care Deals Deflate in 2016
As the end of the year approaches, the Managed Care sector hasn’t changed its sluggish pace. Just 20 deals have been announced through mid-December, a 56% drop from 2015’s total of 45 transactions. Spending is another matter. As of this writing, nearly $1.7 billion has been committed to financing the 20 deals. There is no way to match last year’s outrageous total of $100.4 billion, courtesy of the two super-mega-deals from Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Anthem (NYSE: ANTM), made for Humana (NYSE: HUM, $37 billion) and Cigna (NYSE: CI, $54 billion), respectively. You’ve been living under a rock if you haven’t heard that the Justice Department challenged those mergers back in... Read More »The Market for PBMs Slows in 2016
Magellan Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGLN), a healthcare management company specializing in special populations and pharmacy benefits management, has just acquired privately held Veridicus Holdings, LLC. The sellers are Gauge Capital, company management and other unnamed backers. Based in Salt Lake City, Veridicus is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company that uses proprietary software to integrate pharmacy, medical and lab data to drive targeted interventions for complex patient populations. The $74.5 million deal gives Magellan access to Veridicus’ 225,000 members. Veridicus also owns and operates a fully licensed insurance company which serves members enrolled in the Medicare Part D... Read More »Schedule a demo
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