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On Friday, a federal judge said there would be no ruling on the move by Anthem Inc. to acquire Cigna Corp. until early next year. This is a hitch in the effort by Anthem to close the $48 billion health-insurance deal. Based on grounds of antitrust, the Justice Department sued to block the merger last month and also another big health insurer deal to merge Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc. Although Anthem disagrees, the government maintained that health-care providers, employers, and consumers would suffer due to a drastic reduction in competition.

November 21 is the trial date set for the Anthem matter by the presiding U.S. District Judge, Amy Berman Jackson. On Friday, during a scheduling hearing she said that the Nov. 1 start date proposed by Anthem was too soon, and the Justice Department requested a prolonged timeline. She intends to rule by the end of January.

Due to growing concerns that Cigna might want to withdraw from the transaction, Anthem has been pressing for a resolution this year. If the deal is not held together by April 30, 2017, deadline, with a breakup fee of $1.85 billion, Cigna can walk away. Anthem said 120 days would be needed to obtain secure regulatory approvals from state insurance regulators after an auspicious court ruling, so they want the case expedited.

With quarrels from different angles, the relationship between both companies has been a difficult one that has tried to put the deal announced over a year ago in jeopardy. On December 5, the Aetna-Humana trial will begin in Washington with an expected ruling in mid-January by John Bates, the presiding U.S. District Judge. The U.S. health-insurance industry landscape could be set by these two cases for years to come.