10 notable payer M&A deals in 2024

Payers expanded their reach into the provider space through acquisitions in 2024. 

Elevance Health picked up specialty care providers and launched a new foray into primary care. UnitedHealth Group's Optum is still seeking to acquire home health company Amedisys, though regulators are challenging the deal. 

Some major acquisitions fell apart in 2024 — in February, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana shelved plans to be acquired by Elevance Health after the proposed sale faced scrutiny from physicians and state officials. 

In late 2024, reports of a potential merger between Humana and Cigna emerged. Cigna later said it had no plans to merge with Humana. A previous deal between the two companies fell through in 2023. 

Here are 10 payer mergers and acquisitions in 2024 to note: 

1. The Justice Department is suing UnitedHealth Group and home health company Amedisys over the companies' planned $3.3 billion merger. The lawsuit, filed in November, claims the purchase could increase home healthcare prices across 23 states and in Washington, DC. 
   
   
2. Several health systems reached deals to sell their health plans to larger entities in 2024. Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health reached a deal to sell Health New England to Point32Health for $165 million. Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica sold its insurance subsidiary, Paramount Health, to Medical Mutual of Ohio in May. Indiana University plans to sell its health plan to Elevance Health in a deal expected to close by the end of 2024. 
   
   
3. Molina Healthcare plans to acquire ConnectiCare, a subsidiary of EmblemHealth, for $350 million, the company said in July. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025. 
   
   
4. Humana will open primary care clinics at 23 former Walmart Health sites. Walmart will lease the clinics to Humana, and the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Walmart Health closed all 51 of its clinics in April. 
   
   
5. The Lifetime Healthcare Co. and Capital District Physicians Health Plan, two New York health plans, intend to merge, creating an organization with nearly 2 million members and 6,000 employees. The merger is awaiting approval from federal and state regulators. 
   
   
6. Elevance Health struck a deal with private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to develop advanced primary care models. The venture, called Mosaic Health, is expected to generate $4 billion in revenue annually, Elevance Health executives said.
   
   
7. Optum acquired Corvallis (Ore.) Clinic in March. State regulators allowed the acquisition to bypass a state review, citing an immediate need to maintain the clinic's financial solvency.
   
   
8. Elevance Health acquired two specialty-care focused companies in 2024. The company picked up Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and ambulatory infusion provider Paragon Health. 
   
   
9. Early in 2024, The Cigna Group reached a deal to sell its Medicare business to Health Care Service Corp. for $3.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. 
   
   
10. In January, Molina Healthcare purchased Bright Health's California Medicare Advantage business for $500 million.