US District Court judge dismisses Department of Justice motions to prevent UHG acquisition. The decision on Monday by Judge Carl Nichols of the District of Columbia district court denies DOJ’s action to stop the deal. It also orders the planned divestment of Change’s ClaimsXten claims payment and editing software to an affiliate of TPG Capital for $2.2 billion in cash.
The DOJ and entities such as the American Hospital Association had objected to UHG’s folding Change into OptumInsight as anti-competitive. As both Optum and Change offered competing claims processing software that covers 38 of the top 40 health insurers, UHG would then solely have access to nearly all competitive payers’ information. There were other competitive issues that were dismissed in the judge’s brief opinion. (For insight, see our earlier coverage starting here.) The full opinion, originally expected in October after the bench hearing in August, is under seal due to proprietary, sensitive information and will not be released. (US v UnitedHealth Group, 22-cv-481)
DOJ’s top antitrust official, Jonathan Kanter, said they are “reviewing the opinion closely to evaluate next steps”. DOJ’s short statement surely sounds like the DOJ will appeal. UHG and Change are moving forward “as quickly as possible”. Stay tuned. Reuters, Healthcare Dive
Update: As reported in HISTalk from Bloomberg the all-cash deal is $7.8 billion, not the earlier reported $13 billion.
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