Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

UnitedHealth buys Catamaran for $12.8B

UnitedHealth it will finance the Catamaran deal using available cash and new debt, and expected it to be completed by the end of this year

New York (AFP) - UnitedHealth said Monday it is acquiring Illinois-based group Catamaran for $12.8 billion, in a move which would boost the US giant's pharmacy services.

Catamaran helps employers and health insurers obtain prescription drugs at a lower rate from pharmaceutical groups and pharmacists, and is known as a pharmacy-benefit management company.

UnitedHealth, which will pay $61.50 per share for Catamaran, said it would merge the acquired group with its own unit that provides the same services.

More

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to know why "pharmacy management" companies are even needed. It should be up to the patient to decide what pharmacy they want to use and up to the doctor to decide what drug they need. It's not the insurance company's business to meddle in. These "management" companies dictate what pharmacy (usually mail-order) you can use and what drugs they will allow you to take.

Anonymous said...

Big Pharm just keeps getting bigger. And, instead of protecting the people from monopoly Congress just keeps allowing it to happen.

Anonymous said...

Sad ...big pharma the source of all that ails us..laughing to the bank as america bends over again....keep cheering. My bills have gone up by 2500 + ...