The U.S. Justice Department is suing UnitedHealth Group and home health company Amedisys over the companies' planned $3.3 billion merger.
The lawsuit was filed in a Maryland federal court Nov. 12 and comes over concerns of lessened competition in the home health market because the two companies are "direct competitors." UnitedHealth representatives have met with DOJ officials in recent weeks to make the case for the acquisition.
The lawsuit claims the purchase could increase home healthcare prices across 23 states and in Washington, DC. The Attorneys General of Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York have also joined the complaint.
UnitedHealth's Optum first announced its plans to merge with Amedisys in June 2023. The Baton Rouge, La.-based company was founded in 1982 and provides home health, hospice and high-acuity care services across more than 500 care centers in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
"Amedisys' commitment to quality and care innovation within the home, and the patient-first culture of its people, combined with Optum's deep value-based care expertise can drive meaningful improvement in the health outcomes and experiences of more patients at lower costs, leading to continued growth," Patrick Conway, MD, CEO of Optum Rx, said at the time.
The proposed merger has been under an antitrust review by the DOJ since August 2023. In March 2024, Oregon regulators opened their own review after a preliminary report found the deal could hurt competition in the state's home health markets.
Amedisys shareholders approved the acquisition in September 2023.
"We remain committed to the transaction, which we believe will create more opportunities to deliver quality, compassionate and value-based care to patients and their families. We look forward to supporting Optum in presenting our case," a spokesperson for Amedisys told Becker's.
UnitedHealth Group has rapidly grown its home care capabilities in recent years. In February 2023, the company closed on its $5.4 billion acquisition of home health firm LHC Group, which operates more than 900 facilities. If UnitedHealth's acquisition of Amedisys is approved, the company would own around 10% of the home health market, with significant overlap between Amedisys and LHC acquisitions in some Southern states.
In June 2024, Amedisys and UnitedHealth agreed to sell an unknown number of care centers to VitalCaring Group to make the deal more palatable to regulators.
Separately, the DOJ launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group in February 2024, probing the company's relationship between its insurance unit, UnitedHealthcare, and Optum.
In 2022, the Justice Department unsuccessfully attempted to block UnitedHealth from acquiring data and analytics company Change Healthcare for $7.8 billion.