U.S. judge in Anthem merger trial sets trial for November 21, plans ruling by late January 2017

Anthem had sought a ruling by the end of the year on whether the federal government could stop the deal because the insurer said it needed time to wrap up reviews of the merger by state insurance commissioners by an April 30 deadline the companies have set to complete the deal. Anthem has said failure to meet the April deadline could prompt Cigna to pull out.

During a pretrial hearing, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia did not give a date for the trial but indicated it was likely to be in November.

The judge said it was unlikely that she would rule on whether to block the merger by the end of December.

"My current thinking is that I'm going to aim for a decision by the end of January," she said.

The Justice Department filed lawsuits on July 21 asking a federal court to stop two huge mergers: Anthem's planned $45 billion purchase of Cigna as well as Aetna (AET.N) Inc's $33 billion planned acquisition of Humana (HUM.N).

Anthem's lawyer, Christopher Curran, indicated during the hearing that the company was most concerned about the reviews on the merger in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia and New Hampshire.

Lawyers for the Justice Department and Anthem both told her they were willing to discuss a settlement but neither indicated that talks were ongoing.

"There is absolutely a willingness" to hold settlement discussions, said the Justice Department's Jon Jacobs, who added, however, that any proposed remedy would take time to evaluate.

Anthem lawyer Curran said the company "stands ready" to discuss a settlement.

Cigna is unlikely to agree to an extension of the April 30 deadline because of the two companies' contentious relationship, a lawyer for Anthem said last week.

The Justice Department argues that the deals would reduce competition, raise prices for consumers and stifle innovation if the number of large, national insurers fell from five to three.

If the mergers go through, No. 1 U.S. insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) would rank second after Anthem. Aetna would be No. 3.

The trial on the Aetna deal is set for Dec 5.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Will Dunham)