UnitedHealth, Change Signal Support for Salvaging Their Deal

April 8

Both UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare Inc. are making it increasingly clear that they aren’t giving up on their proposed $13 billion transaction despite federal regulators’ move to block the deal. However, one antitrust attorney is skeptical that the two companies will ever end up combining.

Bloomberg reported on April 1 that Change “is in advanced talks” to sell its payment integrity business — ClaimsXten — to private equity firm New Mountain Capital for more than $2 billion, citing “people with knowledge of the matter.” The news outlet noted that no deal had yet been struck, and that it is not clear whether the divestment would still proceed if UnitedHealth’s deal to buy Change unravels.

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Health Plan Weekly

Leslie Small

Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.