Post-Close Appeal in UnitedHealth/Change Antitrust Case Is ‘Unusual’ Move

  • Dec 02, 2022

    When UnitedHealth Group completed its acquisition of Change Healthcare, Inc. in early October — a move made shortly after a federal judge dismissed an antitrust complaint against the deal — it seemed as though the companies could finally close the book on their nearly two-year quest to combine. However, last month the U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) and officials from two states then filed a notice of appeal, once again casting uncertainty around the $13 billion deal.  

    “The fact that, after losing their challenge at the district court level, the DOJ and the states waited until after the deal closed to file their appeal is somewhat unusual,” says Jim Burns, chair of the Williams Mullen Antitrust & Trade Regulation Practice Group. Usually, when regulators lose their case at the district court level, they file an immediate appeal and request that the court bar the parties from closing their transaction while that appeal is heard, he tells AIS Health, a division of MMIT.  

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  • Leslie Small

    Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.

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