One of the largest health insurers in the country is making a play in its home state of Minnesota. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. has recently struck a deal to acquire PreferredOne, according to Fairview Health Services, a not-for-profit organization that took full ownership of PreferredOne back in 2016.
PreferredOne is a health insurance provider comprised of three companies: PreferredOne Administrative Services, Inc., PreferredOne Insurance Company, and PreferredOne Community Health Plan. The health insurer has 367,000 members and is contracted with 99% of clinics and hospitals in Minnesota.
This deal aligns with UnitedHealth Group’s push into the Minnesota health insurance market, which it ironically did not have a huge presence in even though the company calls the state home, according to a report from Star Tribune, a local newspaper.
UnitedHealth Group has been focusing on more vertical acquisitions for the past few years through its Optum subsidiary, as opposed to consolidation in the insurance market, trying to become an all-encompassing healthcare organization. In January, Optum agreed to buy Change Healthcare, a digital health analytics company, for $13.1 billion and following that in March it purchased Atrius Health, a physician medical group in Boston.
