Health insurer Cigna buying Express Scripts for $52 billion
Health insurer Cigna is buying the nation's biggest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, the latest in a string of proposed tie-ups as health care's bill payers attempt to get a grip on rising costs.
The $52 billion deal announced Thursday follows the drugstore chain CVS Health Corp.'s roughly $69 billion bid to buy the insurer Aetna Inc., an acquisition the companies detailed in December.
Insurers and pharmacy benefit managers — which run drug plans for insurers and employer-based plans — have struggled to keep costs under control for clients like big companies that provide coverage to their workers.