(Bloomberg) -- Humana Inc. disbanded the executive committee of the board, a governance change that comes as the company is in talks to combine with Cigna Group.

The board voted to amend its bylaws to remove the requirement for an executive committee and disbanded the group, the company said in a filing Thursday.

The executive committee had authority to exercise some of the powers of the board in between board meetings, according to a separate filing. It’s unclear what the decision means. 

The change was part of a regular governance review, Humana said. “The utility of the Executive Committee has diminished greatly over the years” with new ways of doing business like virtual meetings, spokesperson Mark Taylor said in an email.

The Medicare-focused health insurer is in talks to combine with Cigna in what would be the biggest health insurance deal in years. If such a combination survived antitrust challenges, it could reshape the health insurance industry.

(Updates with statement from Humana spokesperson in fourth paragraph.)

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