U.S. hospitals urged antitrust regulators this week to consider whether health insurer Anthem Inc’s (ANTM.N) planned acquisition of rival Cigna Corp (CI.N) would boost healthcare costs. In a letter to the Department of Justice, the hospital industry’s largest lobbying group said combining the No. 1 and No. 5 health insurers threatens to reduce competition in 817 geographic markets serving 45 million consumers.