UNITEDHEALTH GROUP ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

LIST OF ACQUISITIONS

• United HealthCare acquired Ramsey-HMO (1994)
• The MetraHealth Companies Inc. (1995) for $1.65 billion
• HealthWise of America (1996)
• HealthPartners of Arizona (1998)
• EverCare and merged it with LifeMark Health Plans (2001)
• GeoAccess and Medicaid insurance company AmeriChoice (2002)
• Mid Atlantic Medical Services and Golden Rule Financial (2003)
• Touchpoint Health Plan in Wisconsin (2004)
• Oxford Health Plans (2004)
• PacifiCare Health Systems (2005) for $8.5 billion
• John Deere Health Care (2006)
• Sierra Health Services (2008) for $2.6 billion
• Health Net's Northeast (2009)
• Picis Clinical Solutions (2010)
• Logistics Health (2011)
• XLHealth (2012)
• Brazil's Amil Participações (2012) 
• Audax Health and later acquired Alere Health (2014)
• CatamaranRx (2015)
• Rally Health (2015)
• DaVita Medical Group (2019) for $4.3 billion
• Equian (2019) for $3.2 billion
• PatientsLikeMe (2019)
• LHC Group (2022) for $5.4 billion
• Change Healthcare (2022) for $8 billion

‍

KEY ACQUISITIONS OF UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

‍

The MetraHealth Companies

UnitedHealth's $1.65 billion acquisition of MetraHealth Companies in the mid-1990s made the former Medicare administrator into the national insurance player we know today.

The deal gave them the infrastructure to manage health plans for large corporate employers.

It also gave UnitedHealth market power to negotiate with healthcare providers and maintain relationships with major corporate clients like G.M., DuPont, and Sears because of MetraHealth's specialized expertise in working with large accounts.

PacifiCare Health Systems

UnitedHealth purchased PacifiCare Health Systems for an $8.5 billion acquisition in 2005.

Since the 1960s, the West Coast HMO has managed healthcare costs and patient care.

The merger expanded UnitedHealth's national presence while leveraging PacifiCare's expertise in managed care.

The deal also triggered industry-wide adjustments as stakeholders had to adapt to the combined entity's enhanced market influence.

Amil Participações

UnitedHealth Group's landmark $4.9 billion acquisition of Amil Participações (Brazil's largest health benefits provider) in 2012—put the Minnesota-based company on the global map helping them expand into international markets.

The purchase gave them access to 200 million Brazilian consumers and a trusted brand name.

They were able to provide the Latin American company with American-style healthcare tech in analytics and partnerships.

DaVita Medical Group

The $4.3 billion acquisition of DaVita Medical Group by Optum in 2019, expanded UnitedHealth's healthcare services division, by adding a major physician network and outpatient facilities to its portfolio of pharmacy benefits, analytics, and care delivery assets.

The deal helped the health giant to vertically integrate more direct patient care touch points under one umbrella—controlling healthcare costs and quality.

It also gave them deeper visibility into the medical ecosystem.

Change Healthcare

UnitedHealth's Optum division made waves in 2022 with its $8 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare.

The firm worked on data analytics and possessed vast amounts of U.S. medical claims data, providing healthcare information infrastructure.

There were antitrust concerns about Optum gaining access to competitors' data.

However, the deal was approved with some divestments.

Optum's analytics capabilities and control over healthcare data have never been better.