UnitedHealth Group has closed its $5.4 billion acquisition of LHC Group, the home health and hospice provider informed the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
“As the demand for in-home care increases, this combination will help elevate the healthcare experience for the people Optum and LHC Group serve, providing quality and uninterrupted care,” the Lafayette, Louisiana-based company wrote in its filing. Prioritizes coordination. ,
UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group did not immediately respond to interview requests.
unitedhealth agreed last march to buy LHC Group, which operates 964 locations in 37 states. was subject to transaction Federal Trade Commission Review But the regulator did not move to block the deal. The FTC declined to comment.
LHC Group’s operations will be combined into UnitedHealth Group’s Optum healthcare services and distribution subsidiary and will support the company’s plan to make Optum the entry point for patients into the UnitedHealth brand.
Last year, UnitedHealth spent $21.4 billion on acquisitions, including Irving-based Healthcare Associates of Texas, behavioral health and substance abuse chain Refresh Mental Health of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and Kelsey-Sebold Clinic Medical Group in Houston.
UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer by membership with approximately 51.7 million policyholders and the largest employer of physicians, with more than 60,000 doctors on Optum’s staff.
Rival insurance companies have adopted a similar strategy Establish yourself as a “payer”.
CVS Health, which owns insurer Aetna, acquired home health provider Signify Health and Primary Care Chain Oak Street Health in recent months. Humana, which bills itself as the largest operator of Medicare primary care clinics, is expected to add 50 more sites for its growing centerwell hands this year. The company formerly known as Anthem invested so heavily in care delivery and health technology in 2021 that it rebranded as Elevens Health to reflect its expanded suite of healthcare services.