Philadelphia-Area Hospital Merger Will Raise Costs, Insurers Say

Cigna Corp. and Independence Blue Cross raised the alarm during an antitrust hearing that a proposed merger between two Philadelphia-area hospital systems could raise the cost of in-network coverage.

Both Jefferson Health and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network provide critical health services in the Philadelphia area, making it necessary for both to remain part of Cigna’s in-network coverage plans, an executive for the insurance company said during the first day of preliminary injunction proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

If a combined Jefferson-Einstein hospital system “forced Cigna to pay more, Cigna would have to pay ...