Editorial: Creating a Goliath?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.

Justice Department officials must decide whether Sierra Health Services and UnitedHealth Group can move forward with a $2.6 billion merger that would give UnitedHealth, a national chain, 95 percent of the Las Vegas health maintenance organization market.

According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday, a merger between UnitedHealth and Nevada's largest insurance provider would also result in the national company acquiring 56 percent of the combined HMO and preferred provider organization market share in the Las Vegas Valley.

American Medical Association members told the Sun's Marshall Allen that creating a massive, single-provider network would effectively negate the opportunity for doctors to negotiate for better reimbursements and offer consumers few, if any, options to shop around for better prices or premiums. An AMA board member told the Sun that UnitedHealth would be able to set whatever premiums it wanted without having to face competition, and doctors would be forced to take whatever reimbursements are offered - or leave.

Representatives of Sierra Health and UnitedHealth told the Sun that premium increases aren't necessarily on the horizon, and expanding the network will give consumers more doctors from which to choose. Sierra Health officials also said that UnitedHealth has a vast electronic medical records database, which could help streamline, and make for more accurate, patient care.

Sierra Health already has a corner on the Las Vegas Valley's health insurance market. For the immediate future, such a merger would further limit Southern Nevadans' health care choices, the prices for which already are skyrocketing. The Justice Department should carefully and seriously consider this deal. Narrowing that market even more is not a decision that should be taken lightly.