Tom Wiffler, chief executive for specialty benefits at UnitedHealth’s insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, confirmed the purchase with the Star Tribune. For 10-plus years, UnitedHealth said it has routinely sent employee health plan customers to Epic Hearing to purchase supplemental insurance for hearing aids.
Under the transaction, UnitedHealthcare will now sell the coverage directly to its customers as a specialty benefit with the likes of its vision and dental policies.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Epic Hearing’s Swiss parent company, Sonova Holding, said Epic Hearing generated roughly $50 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, according to the Star Tribune.
The acquisition is the latest UnitedHealth purchase to be revealed in June. UnitedHealth’s Optum is one of two companies involved in a $2.2 billion acquisition of a Tacoma, Wash.-based physician staffing company from Fresenius, and UnitedHealthcare will acquire Peoples Health, a Metairie, La.-based Medicare Advantage plan, for an undisclosed amount.
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