The American Medical Association, Nevada State Medical Association and Clark County Medical Society have filed joint comments opposing the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed final judgment in the acquisition of Sierra Health Services by United Health Group.
According to the AMA, the three physician organizations filed comments to the DOJ and the federal court in the District of Columbia under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (Tunney Act) alleging the DOJ's actions will fail to protect high-quality medical care from a merger the groups feel is anticompetitive.
"The acquisition of Sierra by UnitedHealth creates an unprecedented level of market concentration in Southern Nevada," said AMA Immediate Past President William G. Plested, MD. "The merger permanently transforms the health insurance market in Las Vegas, allowing UnitedHealth to acquire a 90 percent share of the health maintenance organization (HMO) market."
The AMA said the physicians charge the DOJ's limited enforcement action in the merger fails to protect Nevada from inadequate levels of service and quality, higher patient insurance premiums and one-sided, coercive contractual provisions.
The organizations urged the court to scrutinize the DOJ's decision not to bring an enforcement action challenging the anti-competitive effects of the merger in Nevada's commercial health insurance market.
"After an 11-month investigation, the DOJ's modest response to the merger left several hundred thousand people in Nevada's fragile health care system vulnerable to a health insurer with a near-monopoly in the HMO insurance market," said Richard P. Seher, MD, president of the Nevada State Medical Association. "Contrary to claims of greater efficiencies and lower costs, consolidation in the health insurance industry, in fact, has been shown to raise premiums and decreased patient access to care."
In 2005, the DOJ moved to prevent the UnitedHealth merger involving Pacificare, protecting the high-quality medical care from dominant market power. This is in "stark contrast" to the current actions in the Sierra buyout, the AMA said, where the threat of anti-competitive monopoly is much higher.
"The Department of Justice dropped the ball in protecting Nevada's health care system and that mistake should be reversed," said Dr. Seher. "In the interim, we are looking forward to working with the Nevada State Attorney General to implement the broader protections she has ordered as conditions of the merger."
Also filing Tunney Act comments are the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business, Service Employees International Union Nevada and Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani.
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