Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
UnitedHealth's $4.3B Purchase Of Physician Group Approved By FTC With Conditions
Federal regulators approved UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $4.3 billion purchase of DaVita Inc.’s physician group with the condition that the UnitedHealth UNH 1.83% sell one of its newly purchased health-care provider organizations in Nevada. The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday UnitedHealth has agreed to divest a primary-care practice in the Las Vegas region known as HealthCare Partners Nevada to Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare. (Thomas, 6/19)
Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth first announced a deal in late 2017 to acquire Colorado-based DaVita Medical Group, an acquisition that promised to significantly expand UnitedHealth’s network of clinics, urgent-care centers and surgery centers. The Federal Trade Commission spent more than a year and a half reviewing the proposal, before announcing a proposed settlement Wednesday that lets the deal move forward in five states. The purchase by UnitedHealth Group of about 225 clinics fits with a broader trend of the nation’s largest health insurers morphing into health care conglomerates that directly provide patient care through pharmacies, clinics and other outlets. (Snowbeck, 6/19)
The original FTC complaint against the proposed deal said it would result in a near monopoly controlling more than 80% of the market for services delivered by MCPOs to Medicare Advantage insurers. (Bannow, 6/19)
In other news from the health industry —
Finance executives at hospitals and health systems see the most opportunity to work with commercial insurers to increase downside risk in payment contracts, according to a new survey. The survey, published Wednesday by consultancy Navigant, found 64% of finance leaders said they plan to assume additional risk in contracts with commercial payers in the next one to three years. Medicare and Medicare Advantage were behind with 57% of executives saying they plan to take on more risk in traditional Medicare contracts while only 51% of executives answered that they plan to assume more risk in the Medicare Advantage sector. (Castellucci, 6/19)
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire physician-entrepreneur at the helm of health technology company NantWorks, on Wednesday said he is resigning from the federal Health Information Technology Advisory Committee. Soon-Shiong said his time has been occupied by developing a cancer vaccine through his biotechnology company Nant, which is under the NantWorks umbrella, and overseeing the Los Angeles Times, which he purchased in 2018. (Cohen, 6/19)
