UnitedHealth Merger Judge Rejects DOJ’s Concerns on Data Sharing

The judge who approved UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $7.8 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare Inc. rejected arguments by the US Justice Department that giving the insurance company access to more data could hurt competition.

The Biden administration sought to block the merger, in part over concern about putting Change’s data on rival insurance companies in UnitedHealth’s hands.

US District Judge Carl Nichols sided with UnitedHealth, which argued that it has policies in place to protect so-called competitively sensitive information, and that exploiting data on other insurers would put its business at risk.

Nichols, who was appointed by former President Donald ...