The United States Department of Justice has begun an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group's ongoing White Collar Crime
As UnitedHealth Group scrambles to cover up the scope and scale of the Change/Optum cyber attack fallout, it is mired in Denial of Care class action lawsuits, and a portfolio of White Collar Crime
(Andrew Witty, UnitedHealth Group CEO. The Minnetonka-based commercial health insurance and managed care company earned $20.4 billion in 2022 on revenue of $324.2 billion. Earnings and revenue climbed 16% and 13%, respectively. Its shares had a positive 7% total return when most companies saw share price declines in 2022. This irrational increase is extracted from the Denial of Care business model.)
The Justice Department has begun an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 27.
Justice Department investigators have been interviewing healthcare industry representatives in UnitedHealth competition sectors in recent weeks, which includes physician groups, the publication reported.
Investigator questions during the interviews have included specific relationships between the company's UnitedHealthcare insurance unit along with its Optum health-services arm, which owns physician groups along with additional assets.
Possible impacts of UnitedHealth's physician group acquisitions pertaining to rivals and consumers have also been addressed during the questioning.
The inquiry is, in part, looking into Optum's physician group acquisitions and how the physician and health plan unit ownerships affect competition. Investigators have asked if UnitedHealthcare favored Optum-owned groups in its contract pricing, which could remove rival physicians from specific attractive payment arrangements.
Another area of interest for investigators is if Optum's healthcare provider ownerships might present challenges to UnitedHealthcare's rival health insurers. The Justice Department is also looking into Medicare billing issues, including UnitedHealth Group's patient illness documentation practices, The Wall Street Journal said.
News of the investigation comes as President Joe Biden's administration's antitrust enforcers have heightened investigations into some of the country's largest companies, like Apple and Amazon. Commercial Health Insurance companies are at the top of the list for ongoing White Collar Crime.
UnitedHealth Group mergers and acquisitions are no stranger to criminal and civil challenges from the Justice Department.
(Amar A. Desai, M.D., M.P.H., Optum Health CEO)
Most recently, Optum faced scrutiny from the Justice Department over its proposed $3.29 billion acquisition of Amedisys, a home health provider, after Amedisys received a request from the Justice Department that asked for additional information regarding the merger. The proposed merger also faced backlash from lawmakers.
In September 2022, a Washington, D.C., federal judge rejected the Justice Department's lawsuit attempting to stop UnitedHealth Group from acquiring Change Healthcare for $7.8 billion.
Apart from the Justice Department's inquiries, Covina, Calif.-based Emanate Health has also filed a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group's Optum last November accusing it of anticompetitive practices, along with a "concerted effort to prevent patients from contacting their doctors who chose to leave [Optum] to join competing medical groups."
Who are the Minnesota citizens responsible for the ongoing White Collar Healthcare Crime? Meet the teams of UnitedHealth Group here >
Read more in Wall Street Journal