UnitedHealth Closes Roughly $8B Deal for Change Healthcare

October 3, 2022by The Associated Press
UnitedHealth Closes Roughly $8B Deal for Change Healthcare
A sign stands on UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s campus in Minnetonka, Minn., on Oct. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) — UnitedHealth Group said Monday that it completed its acquisition of Change Healthcare, closing the roughly $8 billion deal a couple weeks after a judge rejected a challenge from federal regulators.

UnitedHealth is merging the technology company with its Optum segment. The health care giant said that combination will simplify clinical, administrative and payment processes for care providers and bill payers.

Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group’s rapidly growing Optum business process pharmacy claims, delivers care and provides technology support. UnitedHealth Group Inc. also runs the one of the nation’s largest health insurers.

The U.S. Department of Justice had sued in February to block the deal. Regulators argued at the time that the deal would put too much information about health care claims in the hands of one company.

But U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols issued an order last month denying the government’s request to scrap the deal.

Nichols noted in a 58-page memorandum that UnitedHealth’s incentives to protect customer data as it grows its businesses outweigh motivations to misuse the information. The judge also noted that UnitedHealth has agreed to sell part of Change Healthcare’s business to a private-equity firm that will then invest in it, and that will likely preserve competition.

UnitedHealth announced the deal in early 2021.

A+
a-
  • UnitedHealth
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Health

    May 21, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    States, Tribes to Have Easier Time Importing Drugs From Canada

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced “enhancements” under section 804 of the Federal Food, Drug and... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced “enhancements” under section 804 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to allow states and Indian tribes to more easily import certain prescription drugs from Canada. The move, implementing an executive order signed by President... Read More

    May 21, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    FDA Seeking Expanded Warning Labels for COVID-19 Vaccines

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has directed Pfizer and Moderna to expand warning labels on their COVID-19 vaccines... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has directed Pfizer and Moderna to expand warning labels on their COVID-19 vaccines to include risks of a heart injury side effect associated with the mRNA shots. According to letters to Pfizer (and its vaccine partner BioNTech) and Moderna... Read More

    May 21, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Kennedy Assures Panel on Funding for Health Research at Public Universities

    WASHINGTON — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he’s looking at a variety... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he’s looking at a variety of different ways to assure major universities continue to get research funding despite a ban on coverage of “indirect costs” that go along with such work.... Read More

    New Trump Vaccine Policy Limits Access to COVID Shots

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday it will limit approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk pending... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday it will limit approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk pending more data on everyone else — raising questions about whether some people who want a vaccine this fall will be able to get one. Top officials... Read More

    Choose Wisely: Medicaid Cuts Could Cripple Trump’s America First Agenda

    In Washington, D.C., there is one rule you can count on: nothing is ever as it seems. The mirage of... Read More

    In Washington, D.C., there is one rule you can count on: nothing is ever as it seems. The mirage of smoke and mirrors provides the ambiance, but not the needed reflection. The current debate over cutting Medicaid is no different. It’s not just a budget fight... Read More

    After US Cuts Funding, WHO Chief Defends $2.1B Budget Request by Comparing It With Cost of War

    GENEVA (AP) — Stripped of U.S. funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its “extremely... Read More

    GENEVA (AP) — Stripped of U.S. funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its “extremely modest” request for a $2.1 billion annual budget by putting that sum into perspective next to outlays for ad campaigns for tobacco or the cost of... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top