UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
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Case Overview
Lead Plaintiff Deadline is TODAY
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Lead Plaintiff Deadline: 07/15/2024 |
Status: | Status: Investigating |
Company Name: | Company Name: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated |
Court: | Court: District of Minnesota |
Case Number: | Case Number: 0:24cv01743 |
Class Period: | Class Period: 3/14/2022 - 02/27/2024 |
Ticker: | Ticker: UNG |
Related Attorneys: | Lead Attorneys: Thomas W. Elrod |
Related Practices: | Related Practices: Securities |
The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of those who acquired UnitedHealth Group Corporation (“UnitedHealth” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: UNH) securities during the period of March 14, 2022 through February 27, 2024, inclusive (“the Class Period”). Investors have until July 15, 2024 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
On January 6, 2021, UnitedHealth announced an agreement to acquire Change Healthcare ("Change") and integrate it into its Optum business. On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a lawsuit challenging UnitedHealth's acquisition of Change. The DOJ alleged that the proposed acquisition would violate antitrust laws because the integration of Change and Optum would give UnitedHealth unparalleled access to information regarding health insurers, as well as health data on every single American. Ultimately, the court in the DOJ action permitted the acquisition, repeatedly crediting UnitedHealth's firewall policy and commitment to preventing the sharing of data between UnitedHealthcare and Optum as the rationale for allowing the deal to proceed. On February 27, 2024, when Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ had re-opened its antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth. The public learned for the first time that the DOJ was investigating the relationships between the Company's various segments, including Optum. On this news, the price of UnitedHealth shares declined by $27.04 to close at $498.28 on February 28, 2024.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, UnitedHealth repeatedly assured investors that it had taken steps to avoid anti-competitive behavior, including by setting up "robust firewall processes" to prevent customer sensitive information ("CSI") from being shared between UnitedHealthcare and Optum after the merger. Specifically, UnitedHealth explicitly stated that Optum "invests extraordinary time, money, and resources into safeguarding [CSI] and keeping it walled off from UnitedHealthcare" and that "UnitedHealth Group's existing firewalls and data-security policies prohibit employees from improperly sharing external-customer CSI."
On January 6, 2021, UnitedHealth announced an agreement to acquire Change Healthcare ("Change") and integrate it into its Optum business. On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a lawsuit challenging UnitedHealth's acquisition of Change. The DOJ alleged that the proposed acquisition would violate antitrust laws because the integration of Change and Optum would give UnitedHealth unparalleled access to information regarding health insurers, as well as health data on every single American. Ultimately, the court in the DOJ action permitted the acquisition, repeatedly crediting UnitedHealth's firewall policy and commitment to preventing the sharing of data between UnitedHealthcare and Optum as the rationale for allowing the deal to proceed. On February 27, 2024, when Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ had re-opened its antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth. The public learned for the first time that the DOJ was investigating the relationships between the Company's various segments, including Optum. On this news, the price of UnitedHealth shares declined by $27.04 to close at $498.28 on February 28, 2024.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, UnitedHealth repeatedly assured investors that it had taken steps to avoid anti-competitive behavior, including by setting up "robust firewall processes" to prevent customer sensitive information ("CSI") from being shared between UnitedHealthcare and Optum after the merger. Specifically, UnitedHealth explicitly stated that Optum "invests extraordinary time, money, and resources into safeguarding [CSI] and keeping it walled off from UnitedHealthcare" and that "UnitedHealth Group's existing firewalls and data-security policies prohibit employees from improperly sharing external-customer CSI."