Alere Health is a subsidiary of Waltham, Mass.-based Alere, a $3 billion technology company that provides diagnostic tools and health-monitoring solutions. Alere Health offers programs to insurers, employers and others that manage chronic health conditions and help with care-management issues such as smoking cessation, pregnancy and weight loss.
Optum CEO Larry Renfro said in a release that Alere Health's products are a “strong fit with our focus on empowering consumers to make more informed decisions, achieve healthier lifestyles and take greater ownership of their health.” Optum provides consulting, management and data analytics services to hospitals, payers and other healthcare companies, and Alere Health will complement Optum's consumer-wellness businesses that are geared toward the general public.
Alere said divesting its health-management line will help the company pay down long-term debt. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
Optum is the most profitable component of UnitedHealth. In the third quarter, Optum recorded a 7.2% operating margin. The firm is on pace to register $45 billion in revenue by the end of 2014.
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