UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is dropping its motion to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit regarding the company’s plans to acquire home-based care giant Amedisys in a $3.3 billion deal. UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest companies in the country and has an array of associated business lines. Should the […] The post UnitedHealth Group Drops Motion To Dismiss DOJ’s Amedisys Antitrust Lawsuit appeared first on Home Health Care News.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is dropping its motion to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit regarding the company’s plans to acquire home-based care giant Amedisys in a $3.3 billion deal.
UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest companies in the country and has an array of associated business lines. Should the deal go through, Amedisys would be part of UHG’s health care services arm, Optum.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Amedisys’ service lines include home health, hospice, palliative and personal care. It also has home-based, high-acuity care capabilities through Contessa Health, which is a part of its network. That network includes 19,000 employees and 521 care centers throughout 37 states.
The DOJ first filed the lawsuit in November arguing that the acquisition would create less competition in the marketplace, negatively impacting patients and health care professionals seeking employment. UnitedHealth Group already has LHC Group, also one of the nation’s largest home health providers, under its umbrella.
In a filing this week to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, UnitedHealth Group stated that the DOJ has now disclosed which counties would allegedly be impacted by the deal. This new information “moots the basis on which Defendants filed their motion to dismiss.”
UnitedHealth Group stated that it will prepare for the lawsuit to go to trial.
The DOJ filed the suit in the waning days of the Biden administration. Expectations among pundits that the Trump White House would be friendlier to consolidation and looser in antitrust efforts gave rise to speculation about the fate of the suit.
The post UnitedHealth Group Drops Motion To Dismiss DOJ’s Amedisys Antitrust Lawsuit appeared first on Home Health Care News.
