Current UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) CFO John Rex is the company’s new president, effective today.
Rex replaces former President and COO Dirk McMahon, who recently retired, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. McMahon stepped down on April 1 after more than 20 years with the company.
Rex was tapped to become UnitedHealth Group’s executive vice president and CFO in 2016. He came to the mammoth insurance company in 2012 through its subsidiary and health care services arm Optum.
Previously, Rex served as CFO and executive vice president for InGensa, Inc., senior research analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. and senior analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.
UnitedHealth Group, via Optum, has made massive investments in home health and hospice in recent years. In June 2023, the company penned an agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction of $101 per share, or about $3.3 billion. This followed its $5.4 billion acquisition of LHC Group, which closed in February of that year. The Amedisys deal is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2024.
All told, hospice and home health will be important pieces of UnitedHealth Group’s strategic focus. Amedisys and LHC Group offer critical services that aging populations need, according to CEO Andrew Witty.
“[Taking it a] level higher up, it’s no secret that we’re very strong believers in the value of home health,” Witty said in an earnings call. “And no secret that we believe in the value of home health capabilities, when combined with other activities in terms of wrapping care around patients. [It] is a really important element of future value-based care — particularly as you speak towards complex patients, many of whom maybe struggled to get out of the home.”
Optum Health currently serves more than 4.1 million patients in value-based care arrangements across all of its clinical business lines. This reflects patient census growth of about 900,000 people during 2023. The company in Q4 of last year saw a 33.9% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching in excess of $24.5 million.
Parent company UnitedHealth Group saw 14.6% revenues growth during 2023, reaching $371.6 billion.
