The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth, owner of the biggest U.S. health insurer, a leading manager of drug benefits and a sprawling network of doctor groups,” Anna Wilde Mathews and Dave Michaels write over at The Wall Street Journal. “The investigators have in recent weeks been interviewing healthcare-industry representatives in sectors where UnitedHealth competes, including doctor groups, according to people with knowledge of the meetings. During their interviews, investigators have asked about issues including certain relationships between the company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and its Optum health-services arm, which owns physician groups, among other assets. Investigators have asked about the possible effects of the company’s doctor-group acquisitions on rivals and consumers, the people said. Spokespeople for UnitedHealth and the Justice Department declined to comment. UnitedHealth executives have said Optum and UnitedHealthcare don’t favor one another, and routinely work with competitors. The probe comes as the Biden administration’s antitrust enforcers have stepped up investigations of some of the biggest U.S. companies, such as Apple, Amazon, Live Nation Entertainment and Alphabet’s Google unit. The Justice Department’s top antitrust official, Jonathan Kanter, has pushed to revive enforcement of laws that restrain monopolies in the U.S. The department has had mixed results on merger enforcement, but its challenges to monopolies are continuing. The administration has signaled the healthcare industry is a priority in its antitrust efforts.” Anna Wilde Mathews and Dave Michaels, “U.S. opens UnitedHealth antitrust probe,” The Wall Street Journal.
