News Briefs

✦ The Dept. of Justice’s antitrust division is considering whether to file a suit aiming to block UnitedHealth Group’s $8 billion proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare, according to press reports. The Biden administration and Democrats have argued in recent months that health care industry consolidation has harmed consumers and the economy, and targeting the UnitedHealth/Change rollup would be the first Biden-directed sign that the administration intends to take a more confrontational stance against mergers and acquisitions than its recent predecessors.

✦ The DOJ has joined several whistleblower complaints against Kaiser Permanente alleging the combined payer-provider received artificially inflated reimbursement for its Medicare Advantage plans. The lawsuits, filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, argue that Kaiser “submit[ted] inaccurate diagnosis codes for its Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees in order to receive higher reimbursements,” according to a DOJ press release.

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