With acquisitions of hospital groups, home health care networks and tech companies driving relentless expansion, colossal health insurer UnitedHealth Group now employs a staggering 10 percent of all American physicians—that is 90,000 doctors across the country in its networks.
Mega-Mergers Raise Mega Eyebrows
UnitedHealth Group, already the nation’s largest private health insurer and one of the world’s 10 largest companies overall, has spent over $41 billion in the past 18 years acquiring at least 25 companies across health care sectors. These mega-mergers have raised antitrust concerns from regulators and lawmakers about potential harms to market competition, though legal challenges have been mostly overcome with some concessions.Recent major acquisitions include last year’s $5.4 billion purchase of home health care provider LHC Group, as well as the controversial $8 billion merger with health care IT firm Change Healthcare—completed only after UnitedHealth divested its claims editing unit amid Department of Justice antitrust violation charges.
- Refresh Mental Health, a network of more than 300 outpatient sites across 37 states
- Houston’s 500+ physician Kelsey-Seybold specialty group
- The 30-location Atrius Health independent physician network
- Houston Medicare insurer KS Plan Administrators covering 41,000 beneficiaries
Company Now Reaches 1 in 5 Medicare Beneficiaries
During its investor meeting this week, UnitedHealth Group projected its Medicare Advantage enrollment will rise by nearly 500,000 in 2024. Meanwhile, Medicaid enrollment is estimated to fall by 100,000-200,000 people, as a now-expired pandemic coverage rule gets reversed.UnitedHealthcare currently serves one in five Medicare beneficiaries nationwide—close to 13.7 million seniors.
Beyond insurance offerings, UnitedHealth’s Optum health services unit directly enables care for 103 million patients through owned physician groups, outpatient clinics and surgery centers providing primary, specialty and urgent treatment.
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