The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit Tuesday to block UnitedHealth’s $3.3 billion acquisition of home health company Amedisys, arguing the deal would stifle competition in this space.
Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York also joined the suit, which was filed in Maryland federal court. In the complaint, the feds argue the competition that exists now between UHG and Amedisys on home health services benefits the patients who need such care.
However, allowing the two to merge would “forever eliminate that competition,” the DOJ said. The complaint argues that the companies have acknowledged the benefit of competing against one another in the past.
“The fact that this merger would extinguish competition at the expense of Americans is not a secret,” the DOJ said. “Indeed, both UnitedHealth and Amedisys recognize the value that direct competition between the two companies provides to patients today.”
The DOJ said that through the merger, UnitedHealth would expand its home health footprint to five new states as well as add 500 additional locations in the 32 states in which it already operates.
The agency alleges that the acquisition is part of a deliberate attempt to stymie competition. Should the deal go through, it would give UnitedHealth control of 30% or more of home health and hospice services in eight states, the DOJ said.
“UnitedHealth’s plan to extinguish Amedisys as a competitor is the result of an intentional, sustained strategy of acquiring, rather than beating, competition,” the DOJ said in the lawsuit.
UHG’s Optum, which will absorb Amedisys should the deal go through, disputed the DOJ’s claims in a statement to Fierce Healthcare.
“The Amedisys combination with Optum would be pro-competitive and further innovation, leading to improved patient outcomes and greater access to quality care. We will vigorously defend against the DOJ’s overreaching interpretation of the antitrust laws,” Optum said.
Amedisys had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The Justice Department points to the company’s earlier acquisition of LHC Group, which closed in February 2023. At the time of the deal, LHC was the third-largest home health provider and also a major player in the hospice space, the DOJ said.
In the lawsuit, the DOJ also notes that Amedisys was originally set to be acquired by OptionCare, which does not compete directly in the home health space. Instead, UnitedHealth won a bidding war and Amedisys chose to integrate with them.
In addition to reducing competition in a way it says would harm patients, the DOJ also argues that the combination would eliminate an employer that allows nurses to push for better pay and benefits.
“In short, vulnerable patients and valued nurses in each of these local markets would have fewer choices for home health and hospice services (or for employment) because of the unlawful consolidation of two of the largest competing home health and hospice providers—UnitedHealth and Amedisys,” the DOJ wrote.
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