Business
United: No large mergers planned
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 24, 2006
A rumored merger between two of the nation's largest health insurers is not likely to take shape -- at least for now.
UnitedHealth Group, the nation's second largest private-pay health insurer, said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would not pursue a deal with "large, multistate health benefits providers" in 2006.
It had been rumored as early as 1998 that United would merge with Louisville, Ky.-based Humana. But United says it will focus on growing its own internal businesses and the integration of recent acquisitions, such as the $9 billion acquisition of PacifiCare Health Systems, completed in December 2005.
The AMA has come out against large-scale mergers, particularly the United-PacifiCare deal, in which the AMA said the merger would give the newly combined health plans far too much market power over physicians and patients. Although the deal was eventually approved, it came with conditions. Federal and various state regulators required the company to sell certain operations, contribute money to state-level health initiatives, and meet requirements for addressing physician contracting concerns.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/04/24/bibf0424.htm.
