Acquisition by Cigna of Express Scripts Confirmed

Cigna, the health payer, has confirmed that they have secured approval from the state departments of insurance in New York and California for the acquisition of Express Scripts.

A statement presented on Monday confirms that the U.S. Department of Justice has cleared Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. The merger approval was voted last month by the shareholders, even though there was opposition from Carl Icahn, an activist investor.

The health insurer, Cigna, has confirmed receipt of the final regulatory approval needed to complete the acquisition of Express Scripts, the last major stand-alone pharmacy benefit manager (PBM).

“On December 18, 2018, Cigna and Express Scripts received regulatory approval from the State of New Jersey for the transaction,” said the insurer of Cigna. He continued his statement by saying that “All required regulatory approvals now have been received and the parties expect to close the transaction on December 20, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of all other closing conditions.”

This was a $52 billion acquisition to help improve care for patients in the healthcare industry at lower cost .  

Done Deal: The acquisition of Express Scripts

Shareholders voted and confirmed this approval last month even though activist investor, Carl Icahn was opposed to it. “After a thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Antitrust Division has determined that the combination of Cigna, a health insurance company, and (Express Scripts) a pharmacy benefit management company, is unlikely to result in harm to competition or consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General of the antitrust division Makan Delrahim in a statement.

To bring the PBM closer, this acquisition approval was necessary to the Cigna health plan in order to create a savvier buyer of medications in order to provide transparency for their clients. Express Scripts is seen as the “middleman” between drug creators and consumers in order to provide prescription coverage. The role of the PBM is to help negotiate the best drug prices for employees of large employers and employers of users.

The CEO of Cigna Global Health, who has served as president of Cigna HealthCare since 2005, David Cordani, believes that Express Scripts will allow Cigna to provide enhanced benefits to their customers to not only monitor the medical costs, but also the prescription usage.

This acquisition of Express Scripts is a major change for an industry that is run by prescription drug programs for both insurers and employers. Express Scripts manages over 100 million individuals and has multiple rivals who are trying to control drug prices, which have increased significantly over the past few year.

Global Health Insurance

Cigna, consisting of 95 million customers around the world, is a global health service company with over 40,000 employees worldwide. This health insurance company is on a mission to help provide a sense of security for their customers and their health, while improving their safety and well-being in the process.

The company’s values reside in their customers, community, innovation, and collaboration. They allow a positive experience through reliable methods to ensure their customers get the care they deserve. Working as a team, the company embraces their diverse and individual strengths to build sustainable solutions for stakeholders and the company itself.

Their strategic focus is centered in the delivery of high quality and personalized products to their customers by employing affordable methods, and continuing to solve for the market needs of their partners and clients. The company creates various different avenues for new growth in both top-line and bottom-line through capital deployment. With its collective global mission, the global health insurance company further expands its capabilities to help pursue targeted solutions.

To learn more about Cigna, click here.

More about Express Scripts

Express Scripts is a provider of health benefits management services that helps organizations to think about their benefit plans. Their consumer intelligence, patients-first, and clinical expertise approach allows them to promote better health outcomes for their members to help reduce plan sponsor costs.

Their leadership team includes President of Express Scripts Michael G. Biskey, who has over 30 years of strategic leadership and is responsible for all aspects of the development plan in order to bring value to customers. The team also includes Mark Murphy Vice–President of Finance, Operations, Clinical, and Strategy and is responsible for Express Scripts financial strategy to help oversee the development, delivery, and management of products and services offered by Express Scripts.

To learn more about Express Scripts and their leadership team, click here.

Cigna and Express Scripts plan for the deal to be completed by the end of 2018, even though Cigna has extended the deal closing date to June 8th, 2019. Cigna has access to millions of customers and allows flexibility and accessible care for their customers. With their large global health care network, they are committed to helping their customers whenever needed.