The Labor Department recently sued UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UMR, alleging that it wrongfully denied claims for emergency room services and urinary drug screenings since 2015. UMR did not determine the medical necessity of the claims, denying them “based solely on diagnosis codes and not applying a prudent layperson standard,” according to the complaint.

Here is a selection of recent executive hires, departures and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.

The program aims to improve work environments for nurses and remove the stigma associated with asking for mental health care. The curriculum will focus on ways to identify and reduce stress before it escalates. While it will help all nurses, the program is especially geared toward nurses of color and those under the age of 35.

While the top-level view of the growth in the hospice industry at 20-plus percent is impressive, it’s worth looking at a few prominent examples to gain further insight into this accelerating trend.

Through the collaboration, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum will use its analytics and support tools to help Walmart Health clinicians deliver value-based care to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. The partnership is starting at 15 locations in Florida and Georgia with the potential to grow in the future.

The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the deal just ahead of it being finalized on February 27.

The companies have certified substantial compliance with a request for additional information from the Department of Justice, which opened an investigation of the merger in March. They struck an agreement with the agency not to merge until February of 2022, unless it drops its investigation before then. 

Independent and community pharmacies seek to prevent UHG and Change merging into a “corporate monster” that will stifle competition.

U.S. Anesthesia Partners has filed lawsuits against UnitedHealthcare in Colorado and Texas, accusing the payer of forcing it out of network and intentionally interfering with its relationships with providers in those states. But, according to UnitedHealthcare, the lawsuits are an attempt to get the insurer to meet the anesthesia group’s high rate demands.

The American Hospital Association is urging the Justice Department to thoroughly review UnitedHealth’s intended acquisition of Change Healthcare. The transaction would reduce competition in the health IT arena and result in higher prices and lower quality of care, the hospital group says.

A federal grand jury indicted Surgical Care Affiliates, a network of surgical centers and hospitals owned by UnitedHealthcare, for agreeing with competitors not to poach top-level talent.

Optum, a subsidiary of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, agreed to buy healthcare technology company Change Healthcare for $13.5 billion in cash. The acquisition will add data analytics, research and revenue cycle management offerings to Optum’s service roster.

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, all of the seven largest commercial insurers saw their profits rise, with some seeing their profits double. Will they have to pay some of it back? 

UnitedHealthcare sent a notice to plan members stating that it would no longer cover Descovy to prevent HIV, while Truvada – after it goes generic next month – will be covered for free. Gilead reported that Descovy for PrEP had offset a second-quarter fall in product sales.

UnitedHealth Group saw its earnings nearly double to $6.6 billion during the second quarter, as fewer patients sought out appointments or non-essential procedures due to the pandemic.

The company is rolling out Level2, a digital health program for patients with type 2 diabetes. It uses wearable devices and coaches to help users manage their health.

Companies are rolling out suites of tools to monitor their workforce for Covid-19 cases. But even in the midst of a pandemic, there are still limitations on what information they can collect and how they can use it.

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire AbleTo. The company, which provides behavioral telehealth services, has seen an uptick in users during the pandemic.

UnitedHealth Group beat earnings expectations in the first quarter of 2020, bringing in $5 billion in profit. For now, the company is keeping its outlook for 2020 of earnings-per-share between $15.45 and $15.75, despite the uncertainty from the virus.

New guidance from the FDA this week would make it easier for patients to self-test for Covid-19. But the agency still hasn’t approved home testing.

At the MedCity INVEST Digital Health conference Tuesday, experts discussed some of the challenges to implementing artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics’ GeneSight screening analyzes specific genes as a way to predict the effectiveness of 56 common medications for depression.

UnitedHealthcare Hearing is a combination of the insurer’s existing hi HealthInnovations direct-to-consumer hearing aid company and EPIC Hearing Healthcare, the hearing benefits provider acquired by UnitedHealth Group last year.  

PatientsLikeMe was in a haste to find a buyer after regulators at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), forced its majority shareholder Shenzhen, China-based iCarbonX to divest their holdings in the startup. 

Indianapolis-based Equian processes more than $50o billion in healthcare claims annually and works with nine out of the top 10 healthcare payers.

The effort by the nation’s largest insurer to become the nation’s largest employer of clinicians received FTC approval with an agreement to divest some of the company’s holdings in the Las Vegas area to address antitrust issues. 

According to a nationwide survey conducted by Kaufman Hall, 67 percent of respondents considered the nation’s largest insurer as either a strong or extreme competitive threat to hospitals and health systems over the next five years. 

Analysts say the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company’s mix of assets, which ranges from Managed Medicaid business and radiology and behavioral health benefits could be a benefit to a strategic investors looking to broaden their payer portfolio. 

In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf denied Optum’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped ex-executive Dave Smith from joining the healthcare venture.

On an earnings call, Cigna CEO David Cordani seemed largely nonplussed about the potential rule’s impact on the company’s bottom line, even after the insurer’s blockbuster acquisition of Express Scripts.