Department of Justice Files Lawsuit to Block UnitedHealth-Change Healthcare Merger
February 24, 2022
The Department of Justice has just filed suit to block UnitedHealth’s acquisition of the health IT services company Change Health. The $8 billion deal, which was set to go through on February 27th, includes an additional $5 billion. Although the two companies argue that the merger will lower costs for payers and patients, the DOJ maintains the deal would imperil market competition and hurt consumers.
According to Paige Minemyer of Fierce Healthcare, “DOJ alleges in the complaint that the merger would give UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of the country’s largest commercial insurer, UnitedHealthcare, access to a treasure trove of data on its competitors’ sensitive information. This could be used to give the company a leg up and would eliminate its only major rival in first-pass claims editing technology.”
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(Source: Fierce Healthcare, February 24th, 2022)