UnitedHealthcare corporate headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Photo: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth, owner of the biggest U.S. health insurer, and specifically into UnitedHealthcare's relationship to its Optum business unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

In recent weeks, the inquiry is partly examining Optum's acquisitions of doctor groups and how the ownership of physician and health-plan units affects competition, sources told the Journal. Investigators have asked whether UnitedHealthcare favored Optum-owned groups in its contracting practices, potentially squeezing rival physicians out of certain types of attractive payment arrangements.

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