Cigna may buy troubled Mamsi.(Cigna HealthCare; Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc.)

Cigna HealthCare is negotiating to buy Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. of Rockville, one of the area's largest - and most troubled - managed care companies, according to two industry insiders.

Officials with Cigna HealthCare, a division of the Philadelphia-based insurance giant, declined to comment. A Mamsi spokeswoman denied that the two parties are talking.

But well-placed sources insisted that a deal could be reached by April 1.

Word of the sale talks comes two months after George Jochum, Mamsi's longtime chairman and CEO, resigned under pressure. Jochum had vowed to keep the company independent, although many industry observers criticized that strategy.

A deal with Cigna would give Mamsi the …