Justice Department fights back on merger

Late on Friday, the U.S Department of Justice, along with New York and Minnesota, filed an appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a lower court ruling permitting the $13 billion merger of UnitedHealthcare, the country’s largest insurer, and Change Healthcare, a dominant health care data firm.  NCPA strongly opposes the merger because it exposes sensitive patient data from Change’s “switch” that UnitedHealthcare and its PBM, OptumRx, will use to create an unfair competitive advantage. NCPA will support the DOJ any way we can.