Health insurance megamergers called off

Two mergers involving four large health insurance firms have been called off.

Anthem's $54 billion acquisition of Cigna and Aetna's $37 billion acquisition of Humana were both terminated, the companies announced on February 14.

Cigna stated it has filed a lawsuit against Anthem, terminating their merger agreement. Cigna is seeking $1.85 billion in termination fees and $13 billion in additional damages. Anthem did not release a statement by press time.

Meanwhile, Aetna and Humana both released statements saying the two companies decided to mutually end their merger. Under the terms of the agreement, Aetna will pay Humana $1 billion in fees.

The decision to end both mergers comes after two U.S. judges blocked the insurance companies' mergers in January and February. The U.S. Department of Justice, which filed a lawsuit against the mergers in July 2016, argued the acquisitions would lead to higher prices for consumers.