Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Health Systems Break Ties With UnitedHealthcare

Several major health systems are struggling to reach contract agreements with UnitedHealthcare (UHC) to provide care services for members covered by the insurer. Recently, Duke Health posted in a blog that its UHC reimbursement is below the 25th percentile among similar hospitals in North Carolina, which it calls “unacceptable” as it continues contracting talks with UHC. If no agreement is achieved, Duke will be out-of-network as of November 1 for several health plan products, including …

DOJ Questions UnitedHealth’s Contracting Practices

The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group, focusing on how the UnitedHealthcare insurance division influences its own Optum health-services arm, according to the Wall Street Journal. Optum’s portfolio includes physician groups and other providers, and the business line employs a total physician force of about 90,000, making it the largest physician employer in the country. The investigation is digging into how Optum’s acquisitions of physician groups impact competition, particularly in …

UnitedHealthCare Wades Deeper into the Provider World by Buying HealthCare Partners

The line between payers and providers bent even further this week, as UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced plans to buy HealthCare Partners from DaVita Inc. It’s the second major acquisition of its kind for UHC this year; the company paid $2.3 billion for Surgical Care Affiliates just last March. The latest proposed deal came to light just days after CVS Health said it’s buying Aetna. It’s all part of a strategy for health insurers to lower …