2023’s Most Impactful Hospice Deals

A rich mix of hospice merger and acquisition (M&A) activity at the end of 2023 is fueling trends into next year. Hospice M&A activity has diverged from the frenzied pace set in recent years. The hospice space in the last five years has seen record-breaking multiples, a prevalence of private equity-backed platform transactions and large-scale […]

Principles Underlying Optum’s Home-Based Care Deals

Optum Health’s home-based care acquisitions are designed to support an overarching goal of expanding value-based care and diversifying clinical capabilities. The UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary in June 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, […]

How Quality, Utilization Will Shape Hospice M&A in 2024

Investment trends in the hospice industry have meandered in recent years, impacting providers’ approaches to growth in 2024. The mix of hospice buyers has become more diverse during the past five years to include more private equity investors, large health and hospital systems and home health companies, along with payers. These trends will have lasting […]

Amedisys Sees Small Hospice Gains as Contessa Takes Off

As Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ) awaits the outcome of its pending acquisition by Optum, the company showed only modest gains in its hospice segment. Both admissions and average daily hospice census were down in the third quarter of the year, 6% and 2%, respectively, compared to Q3 2022. Net service revenue for the segment reached slightly […]

Home-Based Care a Continuing Growth Engine for UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is leveraging its subsidiary Optum to drive growth in value-based care arrangements, with building out its home-based care capabilities as a high priority. This drive is evidenced by Optum’s pending acquisition of Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) and its purchase of home health and hospice provider LHC Group, which closed in February. By […]

Lawmakers Ask DOJ, FTC to Examine Optum’s Amedisys Transaction

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) have called on the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “scrutinize” the pending acquisition of Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) by Optum Health. Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UHN), in June penned its agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction […]

Amedisys Shareholders Approve Sale to Optum

Shareholders of Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) have voted in favor of the company’s pending acquisition by the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum. Optum in June penned a deal to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction of $101 per share, or about $3.3 billion. The transaction followed a previous offer to acquire Amedisys by the […]

Executive Shifts at Amedisys, AMOREM, VITAS; Compassus, Hospice of the Chesapeake Appoint New Clinical Leaders

Amedisys’ New Chief Accounting Officer The forthcoming acquisition of Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum has sparked executive shifts. The home health and hospice provider recently announced the leadership changes in a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Allyson Guidroz was recently appointed as its chief accounting […]

How Contessa’s Palliative Care Business Factored Into the Amedisys-Optum Transaction

Negotiations around Amedisys Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMED) Contessa subsidiary were a significant contributor to the pendulum swing that led to the company’s acquisition by UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum rather than Option Care Health (NASDAQ: OPCH). Optum in June penned its agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction of $101 per share, or about $3.3 […]

The Most Significant Hospice Deals So Far in 2023

Thus far in 2023, hospice merger and acquisition activity has deviated from prior years. This year is distinctive because of factors such as valuations, asset sizes and the mix of buyers. A number of trends have shifted. The last five years saw record-breaking multiples in the hospice space and private equity-backed platform deals were among […]