Heard from a source that HCSC and Anthem are close to a merger, does that explain the reduction in spending that we have seen this year ?
Did any for-profit and non-profit Blues merge in the past ?
14 replies (most recent on top)
If you are in a department that knows and posting you are giving insider information. Shame on both of you.
Now, is there or is there not a merger? Answer only if you have no insider information and do not know. Which means you do not know. Anyone who knows cannot tell.
My guess is no due to Covid. It would take too long to get approval during Covid. Per article below. You cannot paint a house during a rainstorm and so goes a merger during a pandemic.
Corporate merger and acquisition activity is taking a big hit from the global COVID-19 pandemic, as businesses reassess their priorities and brace for what could be an extended period of economic turbulence.
The pandemic is paralyzing business operations and disrupting commerce worldwide, causing many companies to think twice about moving forward with M&A transactions. The aggregate value of worldwide M&A transactions totaled $730.5 billion during the first quarter of 2020, a 25 percent decrease from year-ago levels, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv.
Deals worth more than $10 billion declined 53 percent in overall value. The trend will likely continue until the economy is back on track and businesses have more certainty, deal analysts said.
Sounds like you are just trying to keep the Anthem stock price low so you can scoop some up before the merger. The FTC is watching for this, I know because I am also in a department where we know.
The reason there’s a spending reduction is because the company has lost members due to employers laying off employees. COVID 19 hurt the company’s growth. Everyone is asked to cut back on spending. There are no plans to swap out branding by early next year. Not because of an acquisition anyways or a merger. I work in an area where I would know. I can assure you we are focused on enrollment season needs. There’s no new branding. As the other person said even if there was an announcement the feds would have to approve it first and it would be a hard sell. Look also at the recent WSJ article about an old lawsuit being settled. The information will put things in context. The payouts for HCSC and anthem are big.
A merger would require someone to go. And that person is not likely to go. That is why the Cigna and Anthem merger failed. Someone wants to be the top dog.
A merger between a non public company and a public company.
“As in all publicly traded companies, top executives have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to maximize both profits and investor returns.” ... In general, a fiduciary duty is a duty to protect someone else's interests"
It is a game. Learn to how to play and win.
There would be a ton of work to get this merger/acquisition done. Would the regulators approve?
It's on again. The plan is to have all of the branding changed before we return to the office next year.
Mergers create huge payouts for senior leadership. Mergers result in large layoffs since you have duplication of work. You do not need two claim departments, two eligibility departments.
Mergers are done to maximize stock price and provide higher returns to stockholders.
I doubt if any merger would happen since past mergers has meet with resistance by the public and government officials. Only if a business was in trouble would a merger go through.
I am really amazed the Tmobile could buy Sprint. . To get the nod from the government, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to sell off significant portions of their businesses to Dish Network. So for a deal to work here, some assets would need to be sold off. I have no idea what that could be to make the merger sweet.
But it may be considered not that big of a merger so this is possible. Only 40 billion in revenue and Cigna is 154 billion so probably would go through.
For me, a merger would be good only because it would delay any potential layoffs this year until they figured out how the organizational structure would look like. Temp delay but since Covid could return and cause issues, I take the temp delay during a merger.
Troll?? Not quite. 30 years in BCBSOK IT, our pension was sweet! I will enjoy and celebrate bcbsil bought out by Anthem. Get ready to bend over and say yes sir, please.
Why is a “happily retired” and supposedly wealthy retiree posting here? Why do you care? Troll. I doubt that you’re a former employee.
Those that can better bail with their pension while it is still intact. HXSC can modify any pension rules at anytime. Its happened many a times during mergers especially when new parent company does not have a pension. Anthem does not have a pension and will be the new BOSS. I love it. Got out clean w my 2 million!!
The HCSC Chairman of the Board has been working the system for a decade or more to get Maurice named as HCSC CEO. If a merger were to happen between HCSC and Anthem, promises would need to be made regarding Maurice, who is in line to make $15 to $20 million a year and the HCSC chairman, who makes millions as Chairman of the Board. Or Gail would would need to be given near nine figures to walk away. Also, HCSC has cleared house of many higher level executives to make a merger easier whether this was the intention or not. The historically unethical Lesar came in as asked and hatcheted Maurice's path to leadership with no possible dissension left anywhere in leadership.
Additionally, legislatively, this is interesting. As noted, maybe Illinois would take a billion or two to sell out HCSC's members to Anthem. Most interesting is the Justice Department under President 45 or possibly a new 46. How would either react to creating a near BCBS monopoly in the USA?
I have no direct information. But based on things I’ve been working on, all the hints are there that they are Considering a merge. I noticed a few things in the past week that made me think it’s coming.
There has not been much Blue M&A activity for a number of years. Anthem and HCSC were active in the early/mid 2000's. Lots of ego's to think about...will HCSC want Gail B coming back to HCSC (bad break-up) and run the Newco? She is currently CEO of Anthem. HCSC's Board President, Milton Carroll, personally chose Pat Hemingway Hall over Gail back in the day and just hand-picked Maurice Smith. Will they get the regulators to approve a merger? Maybe better odds today than in the past? Important states in the Anthem/HCSC footprint (CA, IL, NY...) are cash poor and might welcome their pound of flesh. Money is the only common bond shared by all these people.