UnitedHealth Group and its information and tech-enabled health services business Optum have been grabbing headlines over the past 15 months as they continue their rapid footprint expansion into home-based post-acute care services.
UHG via Optum plans to shell out $3.3 billion to acquire home health care company Amedisys, a deal that is still subject to regulatory review. Amedisys provides value-based home health, hospice, palliative care and skilled nursing care at home to more than 465,000 patients per year, its website notes.
In March 2022, UHG paid $5.4 billion to buy LHC Group, which provides home health, hospice, home- and community-based services and facility-based care in 38 states and the District of Columbia. The company says it reaches 68% of the U.S. population 65 and older.
But there’s more to these developments than Optum’s simply buying market share. Other competitors in this highly active sector have been busy as well. CVS Health completed its purchase of Signify Health for $8 billion in March and Walgreens Boots Alliance in October snapped up the remaining 45% stake in CareCentrix, a home health benefits-management firm.
By bringing care into the home, payers like CVS’ Aetna and UnitedHealth believe they’ll be able to lower costs and act on health concerns before they become more acute, the American Hospital Association reports. Read more.
