Business news in brief

Cigna Corp., the third-biggest U.S. health insurer, with a major operation in Philadelphia, expects to decide the future of its pharmacy- benefits unit by the first half of 2013, chief executive officer David Cordani said. An estimate earlier this year valued the unit at $1.5 billion. The Connecticut company's choices range from a sale to extending its contract with Catamaran Corp., the CEO said. - Bloomberg News

Members of the YMCA of Philadelphia & Vicinity and Freedom Valley YMCA approved a merger, effective Jan. 1, that will create one of the 10 largest such groups in the nation, with nearly 140,000 members, the organizations said. The new organization will be called Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA. Freedom Valley has five branches in Montgomery County, according to its website. YMCA of Philadelphia has 10 branches in the region. - Harold Brubaker

The Federal Trade Commission and the Pennsylvania attorney general will sue to block Reading Health System's $42 million purchase of the Surgical Institute of Reading L.P., arguing that the deal would lead to higher health-care costs in the Reading area. The deal, announced in May, would significantly reduce competition in four areas where the two institutions now compete, regulators said. The Surgical Institute, which was founded in 2007 and is owned by doctors, has consistently charged 30 percent to 40 percent less than Reading Hospital for many medical procedures with quality as as good as or better than competitors, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said. - Harold Brubaker

The federal agency that insures pensions for more than 40 million Americans ran last year the widest deficit in its 38-year history. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said its deficit grew to $34 billion for the budget year that ended Sept. 30. That compares with a $26 billion shortfall in the previous year. Pension obligations grew by $12 billion to $119 billion last year. - AP

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Hometown Community Bank, based in Braselton, Ga., bringing to 50 the number of U.S. bank failures this year. The bank had roughly $124.6 million in assets and $108.9 million in deposits as of Sept. 30. The failure will cost the FDIC $36.7 million. - AP