Partner Arnold Menchel was recently featured in the Hartford Business Journal article, “Optum move to buy Bloomfield surgical center highlights post-pandemic shifts in care.”
The article highlights growing numbers of surgical centers, insurance companies investing in them, and the shifting ways that health services are provided and by whom. UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division is one such investor, operating 200 surgical centers nationwide and recently adding a Bloomfield facility to their Connecticut portfolio.
Arnie discussed how Optum’s Connecticut expansion highlights larger disruption ahead in the healthcare industry nationwide:
“I think this should be viewed in the context of a much bigger picture — which is the question of what has been at the forefront of health care for decades now — which is the competing goals of providing the highest quality care at the lowest possible price,” Menchel said. “As a result of that ongoing search for a solution, we are seeing permutations and combinations that we haven’t seen before … for example a provider buying an insurance company, insurance companies buying providers, and all sorts of combinations in between such as accountable care organizations.”
Arnie is the Chair of Halloran Sage’s Health Care practice, and as the article notes, he worked for three decades at the state attorney general’s office handling cases involving Medicaid rate-setting, HIPAA enforcement, and health insurance coverage prior to joining the firm.