Insurers Own Docs, Raise Bills, No Better Care | Durham News

Health insurers are quietly buying up doctor offices, quietly inflating healthcare costs without improving patient care. A new Brown University study reveals that after UnitedHealthcare acquired practices via Optum, Medicare payments jumped $250 million annually — while doctors started documenting more conditions per patient, artificially boosting payments. Insurers pay their own doctors up to 61% above market rates to meet federal spending rules without hurting profits. With 80% of doctors now working for corporate owners, Congress is pushing back with antitrust bills — including one that would ban insurers from owning physician practices altogether.

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