The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), joined by attorneys general from several states, filed a lawsuit last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block two major mergers between health plans.  In one suit, DOJ challenged Anthem’s attempted $54 billion acquisition of Cigna.  In the other, it challenged Aetna’s $37 billion acquisition of Humana.  Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch stated that DOJ believes the “mergers would restrict competition for health insurance products sold in markets across the country and would give tremendous power over the nation’s health insurance industry to just three large companies.  [DOJ’s] actions seek to preserve competition that keeps premiums down and drives insurers to collaborate with doctors and hospitals to provide better healthcare for all Americans.”  For a more detailed look at DOJ’s actions, see King & Spalding’s Client Alert, available here.  DOJ’s press release, which includes links to the complaints filed by DOJ, is available here.