process of filing a second antitrust NCAA P r sid nt Charli Ba er ay be in the pro ess of filing a second a titrus l lawsuit, but this one has nothing to do with college sports.
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly preparing to sue UnitedHealth Group and the corporate owners of two other pharmacy benefit managers ( PBMs) over alleged price fixing related to the sale of insulin and other medications, according to The Wall Street Journal’s report on Wednesday.
In November, the NCAA president and former Massachusetts governor was named to UnitedHealth Group’s 10-member board of directors, with board chairman Stephen J. Hemsley touting Baker’s “leadership and deep health care experience” prior to his taking over the NCAA. Before becoming government, Baker was CEO of a volunteer health gains business, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
United is the biggest health insurer in the country, with a revenue of around$ 281.4 billion in the year. In 2015 it acquired the PBM, OptumRX, which now fills about 22 % of treatments in U. S.
At the time of his table appointment, Baker stated in a statement that” United Health Group has unique features to improve health care benefits, lower prices, and make the experience much for both clients and companies.”
However, that does not seem to be what the federal authorities have concluded, at least when it comes to United’s Optum Health company, which only reported earnings of$ 95.3 billion in 2023. The FTC released an interim team report earlier this year, outlining its findings regarding how the world’s largest PBMs are “inflating medication costs and squeeze squeeze principal streets pharmacies.”
The sole table position that is currently known to the public is UnitedHealth Group. According to documents obtained with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Baker received 469 deferred shares of United stock as payment for his work on the board of the business, which is worth about$ 233, 000.
Over the last two decades, United’s actions have been content to increasing national and Congressional attention.
The company made a” substantial portion” of the company’s client’s health and personal data public in April when it revealed that cybercriminals had hacked into its Change Healthcare subsidiary and snatched up” substantial proportion” of their business.
” Mr. Baker is truly an expert on baseball, but UHG needs an exact cybersecurity expert on its committee”, Wyden said.
Although Baker just negotiated a colony to three competitive lawsuits against the NCAA, she does have some potentially related experience with handling price-fixing allegations. Baker did not respond to a remark request that an NCAA representative had sent him.
While he was NCAA leader, Baker’s president Mark Emmert together served on the boards of Omnicare Inc., a pharmacist services provider, forest business Weyerhaeuser, and international logistics firm Expeditors International of Washington.