Health insurers have been buying physician practices for decades. Some early iterations crashed and burned because patients didn't like the managed plans. Later, the Affordable Care Act was expected to prompt a surge of physician practice purchases. Although that never fully materialized, some pretty significant deals emerged.
Who: UnitedHealth Group shells out $2.6 billion for Sierra Health Services, a Las Vegas-based insurer with a 250-doctor medical group.
When: 2008
What happened: UnitedHealth amassed several other doctor groups over the next years, including, in 2011, California-based Monarch HealthCare, an independent practice association with 2,300 physicians, and moved most providers under its Optum umbrella.
Who: Humana buys urgent-care provider Concentra for $790 million.
When: 2010
What happened: Humana sold Concentra to Select Medical Holdings Corp. and a private equity firm for $1.05 billion in 2015. Officials said Concentra's operations didn't align with Humana's strategy.
Who: WellPoint (now Anthem) buys CareMore Health Group, a delivery network that offers Medicare Advantage plans and operates more than two dozen clinics.
When: 2011
What happened: Anthem went on to collect other provider assets, including care-management company AIM Specialty. Most recently, it agreed to buy palliative-care company Aspire Health.
Who: Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate Highmark buys West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh for $475 million, creating a hospital, physician and health plan network.
When: 2013
What happened: Highmark's integrated network grew into a formidable rival of neighboring UPMC, a Pittsburgh integrated system.
Related story: "Reigniting the physicians arms race, insurers are buying practices"
