A recent Wall Street Journal story highlighting a new antitrust investigation against the nation’s largest health insurer represents a variation on a long-standing theme. In this instance, as in prior occurrences, the Justice Department and federal officials are trying to undo the harmful effects of a law — Obamacare — that has led industry giants throughout the health sector to consolidate.
Recall that, four election cycles ago, then-candidate Obama promised in 2008 that his health care plan would lower premiums by an average of $2,500 per family. That premiums continue to rise unabated shows the failure of Obamacare by Obama’s own standards — and the anti-competitive behavior the law has engendered explains why.
Insurer Acquiring Physician Groups
According to the Journal, the Justice Department’s antitrust division is looking at the nexus between UnitedHealthcare’s insurance business and its Optum subsidiary, which owns numerous physician practices:
The new Justice Department inquiry … is partly examining Optum’s acquisitions of doctor groups and how the ownership of physician and health plan units affects competition. … Investigators have asked whether UnitedHealthcare favored Optum-owned groups in its contracting practices, potentially squeezing rival physicians out of certain types of attractive payment arrangements.
Investigators have also explored whether Optum’s ownership of health care providers could present challenges to health insurers that are rivals to UnitedHealthcare. … And investigators have asked whether and how the tie-up between UnitedHealthcare and Optum medical groups might affect its compliance with federal rules that cap how much a health insurance company retains
