Change Data ‘Could’ Help UnitedHealth Insurer, Ex-CEO Testifies

Change Healthcare Inc.’s data on health insurance claims “could” be useful to UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s insurance business, but wasn’t the main reason for the $7.8 billion acquisition, UnitedHealth’s former chief executive officer testified.

David Wichmann, who retired in February 2021, said during an antitrust trial in Washington Thursday that letting the company’s insurance operations use data from its health technology business would instead “breach trust and confidence” of its customers.

David Wichmann

Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

UnitedHealth’s access to sensitive data through the Change acquisition is at the heart of the Justice Department’s antitrust case seeking to block the deal. Prosecutors allege ...