Antitrust lawsuit alleges UnitedHealth’s Optum pressured a California hospital to stop competing over physicians

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division is already the largest employer of physicians in the United States, but allegations in a new lawsuit suggest Optum is hungry for more.

Emanate Health, a nonprofit group of hospitals and physicians in California, filed a federal lawsuit Monday, alleging Optum pushed it to agree not to compete for primary care physicians, a violation of antitrust law. When the health system refused, Emanate said in its complaint, Optum cut off contracts and steered patients to other providers.

UnitedHealth’s Optum subsidiary, which includes its provider arm, its pharmacy benefit manager, and its data and technology arm, has been especially focused on acquiring provider practices in recent years. It employs or is affiliated with 70,000 physicians.

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