Elevance Health has plans to further expand into the infusion business.
The health insurer, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, announced Thursday it will pay an undisclosed sum to acquire infusion services provider Paragon Healthcare.
Related: Elevance, Blue Cross of Louisiana revive $2.5B acquisition bid
The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year and is subject to customary regulatory requirements, according to a news release. Publicly traded Elevance also said it does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on adjusted earnings per share in 2024. Paragon Healthcare was acquired by private-equity firm Peak Rock Capital in 2020.
Paragon Healthcare will operate within Elevance’s health services division as part of its CarelonRx pharmacy services segment, according to the release. Elevance does not currently operate infusion centers but offers home infusion services through its acquisition last year of specialty pharmacy BioPlus, an Elevance spokesperson said in an email.
“Together, Elevance Health and Paragon Healthcare will have the ability to provide members with greater choice on the most appropriate site of care options, such as ambulatory or in-home locations, which will remove barriers to care and better support members’ whole health,” Pete Haytaian, executive vice president of Elevance Health and president of Carelon, said in the release.
Plano, Texas-based Paragon Healthcare specializes in infusible and injectable therapies and serves more than 35,000 patients with chronic and acute conditions. It operates more than 40 ambulatory infusion centers in eight states: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Elevance aims to grow the provider’s footprint and operations following completion of the deal, according to the release.
Meanwhile, Elevance is still looking for a way to work out a deal to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana after the companies suspended plans to merge last September following concerns from policymakers and regulators about its merits.
