UnitedHealth Group has agreed to sell off a number of hospice and home health locations to resolve U.S. antitrust concerns over its $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys. The Justice Department and attorneys general from four states (Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in November 2024 to block the deal, arguing it would reduce competition in the home health services market.
The divestiture includes 164 home health and hospice locations (including one affiliated palliative care facility) across 19 states, accounting for approximately $528 million in annual revenue. The settlement also requires divestiture of eight additional locations if regulatory approval for associated facilities is not obtained and includes a monitor to oversee compliance.
The settlement allows the Amedisys acquisition, first proposed in June 2023 by UnitedHealth’s Optum subsidiary, to proceed. Amedisys, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, provides home health, hospice and palliative care to more than 465,000 patients annually across 38 states and the District of Columbia. The deal, valued at $101 per share, aims to expand UnitedHealth’s home-based care offerings, building on its February 2023 acquisition of LHC Group. Regulators feared the merger would raise prices, lower care quality and suppress wages in overlapping markets.
The Justice Department also fined Amedisys $1.1 million violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act after the company failed to flag missing information during the merger review. Unlike the Biden administration’s stricter approach, Trump-era antitrust enforcers have shown a greater openness to resolving merger concerns through divestitures, enabling deals like this to move forward.
“In no sector of our economy is competition more important to Americans’ well-being than healthcare. This settlement protects quality and price competition for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable patients and wage competition for thousands of nurses,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “I commend the Antitrust Division’s Staff for doggedly investigating and prosecuting this case on behalf of seniors, hospice patients, nurses, and their families.”
According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this acquisition marks the 66th Home Health & Hospice (HH&H) transaction announced in 2025. There were 96 HH&H deals announced during full year (FY) 2024, 100 announced during FY 2023 and 115 announced during FY 2022.
