Discuss Mergers and acquisitions in the Healthcare industry.

Humana – Kindred Health Cigna – Brighter Aetna – CVS Cigna – Express Scripts Walgreens – Rite Aid Amazon – Berkshire Hathaway – JPMorgan Chase Aetna – Humana Anthem – Cigna CVS – Target Pharmacies United Health – Catamaran Kindred Health – Gentiva Health Intermountain Healthcare – Amerinet Cener Corp – Seimens Health Services These are all deals or rumored deals in the Healthcare industry. Healthcare industry mergers have been setting records on recent years. In 2016, there were nearly a thousand mergers in Healthcare sectors (information systems, behavioral care, home health care, hospitals, labs, MRI and dialysis, long-term care, managed care, physician medical groups, and rehabilitation), worth $120 billion. In 2017, there was a slight dip in the number of combinations, but the value of 2017 mergers jumped to $175.2 billion. Healthcare merger activity in 2018 is expected increase significantly in terms of numbers and dollar values. I am not asking you to evaluate the combinations mentioned above. They are just examples of the type of activity that has been taking place in the past few years in this industry. Your task is to examine the healthcare industry and its M&A activities and discuss what is motivating all of this activity. You will want to identify what are the trends in the industry and the general economy that are encouraging these combinations. What are these firms attempting to accomplish? Speculate on what are the synergies that are going to justify these deals. Offer examples that illustrate the points that you are making. This will be a project with a larger scope that you have been doing with case studies. It will count as a double weight compared to other projected and will be your final project. It will require you to do some basic research into the healthcare industry. Due Date: May 16th, 9:40 AM before our CEP week meeting. You are to engage in a discussion which demonstrates your mastery over the material that we have been discussing for the past semester. For this project you will have to use outside sources of information in combination with text material. Outside sources should be noted in the text, where applicable, although I am not requiring rigorous footnote formats.