NCPA is asking the DOJ to block UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of data giant Change Healthcare. The DOJ is currently investigating whether the $8 billion deal between two dominant companies in the pharmacy sector would be in the public interest. UHG owns United Healthcare, a major health insurer, and Optum, a pharmacy benefit manager and mail-order pharmacy. Change Healthcare is a massive technology company through which lots of sensitive pharmacy and patient data runs straight to the PBMs. NCPA believes that the merger would create an unfair competitive advantage for a company that is already dominant. “This deal would give UHG a trove of intelligence on its smaller competitors, including thousands of independent pharmacies and their patients. We believe it would use that intelligence to steer patients away from local pharmacies and send them to their own mail-order business,” NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey said. “That data will be used to undercut reimbursements and raise fees on independent pharmacies. It will be used to steer patients to UHG’s health plan and Optum’s mail-order pharmacy. This merger is a threat to fair competition, independent pharmacies, and patient choice.”
NCPA
