News Briefs: DOJ, Two States Appeal Ruling in UnitedHealth/Change Antitrust Case
The U.S. Dept. of Justice, Minnesota and New York have filed an appeal in their antitrust case against UnitedHealth Group’s now-completed acquisition of Change Healthcare, Inc. The DOJ and state attorneys general filed their notice of appeal on Nov. 18, roughly two months after Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia dismissed their case against the $13 billion transaction. Regulators had argued that the deal would give UnitedHealth’s OptumInsight division too much power over health care data, but Nichols ruled that Change’s planned divestiture of its claims-editing technology, ClaimsXten, would assuage any anticompetitive concerns. UnitedHealth has now officially closed its deal with Change, and press reports indicate that the firm TPG Capital has finalized its acquisition of ClaimsXten.