In this photo, UnitedHealth Group Inc. signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New … [+]
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UnitedHealth Group’s Optum business is extending its deadline into April of next year for the completion of its $13 billion acquisition of the software and data analytics firm Change Healthcare, according to regulatory filings Wednesday.
Optum, a fast-growing part of UnitedHealth Group and a key reason the company will eclipse $300 billion in total revenue next year, has said Change Healthcare will become a part of the OptumInsight business “to provide software and data analytics, technology-enabled services and research, advisory and revenue cycle management offerings to help make health care work better for everyone.”
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Change Healthcare said it was delivered a written notice from UnitedHealth Dec. 9 saying the healthcare giant was “exercising its unilateral right to extend the outside date” of the merger plan and agreement to April 5, 2022.
Change Healthcare’s disclosure is consistent with what UnitedHealth executives said at their investor day earlier this month, saying they were “highly energized about the positive impact we can have working together with the exceptional Change team, a team aligned with our mission and values and focused on delivering substantial benefits for the healthcare system.”
It’s the most significant addition to the OptumInsight business since UnitedHealth in 2017 bought the Advisory Board’s healthcare business, which includes data analytics, consulting and population health for $1.3 billion.
Announced in January of this year, the Change acquisition was seen as a move by UnitedHealth and Optum to bolster the company’s efforts to improve health outcomes and population health.
While UnitedHealth continues to be the nation’s largest health insurance company, selling commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, it’s finding growth on the medical care provider side of the healthcare system. Optum owns one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers in OptumRx as well as an array of medical care provider businesses, including doctor practices, surgery centers and urgent care sites across the country.
Speaking at the 10th Annual Forbes Healthcare Summit earlier this month, Sir Andrew Witty, who became UnitedHealth Group chief executive last February, said UnitedHealthcare and Optum will become even more collaborative. The health insurer and provider of medical care are already working on ways to package health benefits and services to sell to employers as well as government clients.
