Multiple senior executives at UnitedHealthcare have been under investigation by the Department of Justice, though it is not clear if CEO Brian Thompson was part of that investigation before his murder.
Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in what police are calling a targeted attack.
There were reports that the executives were accused of insider trading and fraud, and last year the DOJ launched a probe into whether the nation’s largest insurer was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.
Last month, the DOJ along with attorneys generals from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York filed a lawsuit to block UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of rival home health and hospice provider Amedisys Inc.
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The transaction, according to the complaint, would eliminate competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys.
By eliminating the competition, patients who receive home health and hospice services would be harmed, as would insurers who contract for home health services and nurses who provide those services, according to the DOJ.
“We are challenging this merger because home health and hospice patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said last month. “The Justice Department will not hesitate to check unlawful consolidation and monopolization in the healthcare market that threatens to harm vulnerable patients, their families, and health care workers.”
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Both companies view each other as close competitors for home health and hospice services, and UnitedHealth’s proposal would eliminate that competition.
UnitedHealth proposed divesting certain facilities to VitalCaring Group to address some of the overlaps between UnitedHealth and Amedisys, the DOJ said. But that proposal does not alleviate harm in over 100 home health, hospice and labor markets, the DOJ added, which generate over a billion dollars in revenue each year and serve at least 200,000 patients, while employing at least 4,000 nurses.
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“American healthcare is unwell. Unless this $3.3 billion transaction is stopped, UnitedHealth Group will further extend its grip to home health and hospice care, threatening seniors, their families and nurses,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said.
FOX Business reached out to UnitedHealth but has not yet heard back.