Optum faces legislative pushback in Hudson Valley region

Lately it’s drama, drama, drama for Optum in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Earlier this year, we reported on how Optum and Summit Health union workers discussed in a town hall meeting the “corporate takeover” of the Hudson Valley. Since then, Congressman Pat Ryan has organized an inquiry into the Minnesota-based health system’s acquisitions in the region to analyze quality of care after receiving “numerous complaints” about Optum-owned facilities.

Ryan, a Democrat, then submitted those findings to the Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Federal Trade Commission in early April, urging “further investigation and imminent action,” according to a press release.

But he added in an emailed statement to Healthcare Brew that he’s “clear-eyed about the fact that the courts can move slowly” and is “actively evaluating every possible tool” to push for legislation, including helping found a new antitrust-focused caucus.

Last week, Democratic assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson also reportedly called on the Department of Health and NY Attorney General Letitita James to investigate Optum for “detrimental healthcare following its widespread acquisition of healthcare providers around the Hudson Valley,” according to the Daily Freeman.

What are patients saying? The Ryan-led February inquiry gathered responses from more than 1,800 Optum patients on topics like quality of care, accessibility, and billing.

Over 36% of respondents said they’ve experienced “serious customer service issues that interfered with their care,” and allege they have difficulties calling a doctor’s office directly. Nearly half of patients polled said they’ve had a hard time getting an appointment, 37% see longer wait times, and 33% said they’ve had trouble seeing a preferred doctor.

One-quarter of patients also cited issues with inaccurate or double billing, plus a spike in unexplained fees, according to the survey.

Overall, 41% of patients said they saw a decline in the quality of care after a facility was acquired by Optum.

“[Optum parent company] United’s greedy and corrupt practices are directly and undeniably hurting Hudson Valley families, from kids to veterans to seniors to folks with disabilities. In search of ever-increasing profit and further consolidation, they are harming the very people they profess to be serving,” Ryan said.

As we reported in January, Optum employees who are part of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East also discussed the alleged drop in care quality and workers’ inability to provide adequate care.

“[Optum workers’] working conditions change at the whim of corporate edicts—from mandates for shorter visits and full booking to new data systems and integrations that aren’t set up correctly and lack proper onboarding,” Angela Lane, VP for the Hudson Valley region of the union, told us in an emailed statement.

The Optum of it all. The UnitedHealthcare subsidiary has been making a bigger push in the Hudson Valley in recent years. It acquired CareMount Medical—which treats about 1.6 million patients across the various Hudson Valley counties and New York City—in 2022. It then purchased New York’s Crystal Run Healthcare system, which serves more than 350,000 patients across the Hudson Valley and Lower Catskills regions, in April 2023.

And it’s not just a trend seen in New York for the health system. The Oregonian reported in May 2024 that Optum had spent $31 billion in acquisitions over the course of two years in the state.

In February 2024, the Justice Department opened an antitrust inquiry into UnitedHealthcare to look into Optum’s acquisitions and see how the trend has impacted competition in the Hudson Valley.

“We understand the frustrations some of our patients have been experiencing and are working to make necessary improvements,” including making changes to things like its telephone support, billing, medicine refills, and appointment availability, Jonathan Nasser, CEO of Optum New York and New Jersey, said in an emailed statement.