Health Care Service Corp. and Elevance Health are vying for Cigna's Medicare Advantage business, Bloomberg reported Dec. 15.
People with knowledge of the sale told the outlet they expected final bids to be submitted next week. Deliberations on the sale, which could be worth more than $3 billion, are ongoing, and there is no certainty they will end in a deal, according to Bloomberg.
In November, Reuters reported Cigna was considering selling its Medicare Advantage business. Analysts said the sale could make a potential merger between Cigna and Humana, a major Medicare Advantage player, more acceptable to federal regulators.
On Dec. 10, the Wall Street Journal reported the potential merger between Humana and Cigna had been called off after the two companies failed to agree on a price. Though the merger fell through, Cigna planned to continue exploring a sale of its MA business, the outlet reported.
According to the Cigna Group's third-quarter earnings report, the company had 599,000 Medicare Advantage members as of Sept. 30, a small portion of Cigna's 19 million total insurance members. The MA business is on track to lose money this year and next, Bloomberg reported.
Health Care Service Corp. operates Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates in Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Montana. The company has more than 1 million Medicare members as of August 2023.
Elevance Health has over 2 million Medicare Advantage members, according to its third-quarter earnings report.