A subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc. has been indicted on antitrust charges that it maintained yearslong agreements with rival health-care firms not to recruit each other’s senior-level employees.
Surgical Care Affiliates was indicted on two counts in a federal district court in Texas. The Justice Department announced the case Thursday, after the indictment returned by a grand jury was posted on the court’s docket late Wednesday.
“A freely competitive employment market is essential to the health of our economy and the mobility of American workers,” Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim said.
SCA is a leading provider of surgical centers around the U.S., with more than 200 facilities. UnitedHealth’s Optum health-services arm acquired the company in 2017.
The company said it would “defend itself against these unjustified allegations,” which it said involved alleged conduct that took place before its acquisition by UnitedHealth.
