Big health insurance mergers gain millions in legal and banking facilities

While regulators and consumers debate the merits of the huge pending health insurance mergers, attorneys and financiers are observing their incomes grow

Aetna Inc., Anthem Inc., Cigna Corp. and Humana Inc. cumulatively have spent more than $400 million on armies of lawyers, investment bankers and other advisers who have crafted and advocated for their respective mega-mergers. That money covers after-tax expenditures from the time the deals were declared previous summer through the end of this year's first quarter on March 31.

It is been almost a year since the greatest players in the health insurance industry publicly revealed their pursuits. Previous July, Aetna agreed to buy Humana into a $37 billion deal to bolster its Medicare Advantage business. Weeks later, Anthem and Cigna finalized their own transaction, which is presently valued at $53 billion and would predominantly consolidate employer health-plan choices.

If Aetna and Anthem obtain approvals from the U.S. Department of Justice and state regulators, they will, along with UnitedHealth Group Inc., make a strong triumvirate of for-profit insurers.