NEW YORK—Valentine’s Day was not so sweet for the four leading U.S. health plans.

Just a few hours after Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Humana (NYSE: HUM) announced the “mutual” breakup of their planned merger, Cigna reported that it had terminated its proposed merger agreement with Anthem Inc. and filed a lawsuit against its former merger partner seeking more than $13 billion in damages.

The result is that the sweeping consolidation of U.S. health plans that many expected a year ago will not come to fruition, at least in the combinations of Aetna/Humana and Cigna/Anthem.

Both Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Conn., and Aetna of Hartford, Conn., cited the recent court rulings that went against the proposed deals as the factors in their decisions.

“In light of the court’s ruling [enjoining the transaction], Cigna believes that the transaction cannot and will not achieve regulatory approval and that terminating the agreement is in the best interest of Cigna’s shareholders,” the company said in a statement that followed the closing of the stock markets here.

Additionally, Cigna said it filed suit against Anthem in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a declaratory judgment that Cigna “has lawfully terminated the merger agreement and that Anthem is not permitted to extend the termination date.” The complaint also seeks a $1.85 billion reverse termination fee, as well as additional damages in an amount exceeding $13 billion according to the Cigna statement. VMail reported last week on the court’s ruling.



Earlier in the day, Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna and Humana announced they were mutually ending their merger agreement, a decision that comes three weeks after a U.S. District Court ruling granted the Department of Justice’s request to enjoin the merger.

“While we continue to believe that a combined company would create greater value for health care consumers through improved affordability and quality, the current environment makes it too challenging to continue pursuing the transaction,” Aetna chairman and chief executive officer Mark T. Bertolini said in a company statement. “We are disappointed to take this course of action after 19 months of planning, but both companies need to move forward with their respective strategies in order to continue to meet member expectations.”

In a separate statement, Humana announced that under the terms of the merger agreement it is entitled to a breakup fee of $1 billion. The deal was valued at an estimated $37 billion.

As VMail reported late last month, a federal district court in Washington, D.C., sided with the Justice Department in opposing the planned Aetna-Humana merger. In July 2016, the Justice Department moved to block the merger on the basis that it believed the combination of the two companies would reduce competition in the Medicare Advantage market.

At the time, Aetna and Humana had said they believed the merger of the two health plans would create a more efficient operation, which would allow the anticipated savings to be passed on to consumers. On Tuesday, Aetna’s Bertolini added that the companies “remain committed to a shared goal of helping drive the shift to a consumer-centric health care system.”