DOJ, states drop appeal of Optum and Change merger
No reason was given for the request of voluntary dismissal.
Photo: Courtesy UnitedHealthcare
The Department of Justice and states of Minnesota and New York have dropped their appeal of the $13.8 billion merger between Optum and Change Healthcare, according to a filing Monday in the District of Columbia Circuit Court. The plaintiffs asked for the case to be voluntarily dismissed, giving no reason for the request.
The DOJ Antitrust Division dropped its appeal nine days before its opening brief was due, according to Law360. Neither the DOJ, nor UnitedHealth Group, parent company of Optum, released a statement or commented on the decision.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Optum and Change officially merged in October 2022, after winning their case in federal court in September of that year.
Judge Carl Nichols had rejected the DOJ's argument that UnitedHealthcare, UHG's insurance arm and the nation's largest insurer, would use payers' sensitive claims data provided by Change to competitive advantage.
Change Healthcare is among the nation's largest electronic data interchange clearinghouses.
THE LARGER TREND
The DOJ and states brought the lawsuit to stop the merger in February 2022 and then filed the appeal in November 2022.
Optum and Change announced their intent to merge in January 2021. That March, the American Hospital Association sent a letter to the DOJ's Antitrust Division that said the merger threatened to reduce competition for the sale of healthcare information technology services to hospitals and other providers and would result in a large-scale consolidation of competitively sensitive healthcare data and make it available to UnitedHealthcare.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
Emily Kwan will offer more detail at her HIMSS23 session "Implementing an AI NLP Tool to Address SDOH Needs." It is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, at 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. CT at the South Building, Level 1, S105 C.
