UnitedHealth Group said in a court filing Friday its plans to sell at least 128 home health and hospice locations to ease the Justice Department's antitrust concerns around its acquisition of Amedisys.
The divestiture plans were part of a filing in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in a response to the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the proposed acquisition. The government alleges the deal is unlawful because it would stifle competition in hundreds of markets. However, UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys allege the lawsuit essentially ignores the companies' proposed divestiture package.
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The company didn’t identify which locations would be sold, but said they would be in areas where UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys’ combined market share would exceed the thresholds federal regulators allege could harm competition. UnitedHealth Group said in the court filing it was in the process of identifying qualified buyers who would be able to operate and grow the divested locations.
Last month, UnitedHealth Group dropped plans to sell several home health and hospice locations to VitalCaring Group after a Delaware judge ordered the Dallas-based company to pay 40% of its future profits to Encompass Health. The companies were involved in a breach of contract dispute involving VitalCaring Group executives accused of poaching staff while working for Encompass.
UnitedHealth Group has been battling for nearly 20 months to complete its $3.3 billion all-cash bid to buy Amedisys. UnitedHealth Group operates home health and hospice locations in 37 markets under its LHC Group subsidiary. Amedisys operates home health and hospice locations in 40 markets.
The two companies dropped a motion last week to block the federal lawsuit after the Justice Department disclosed which counties it alleged would be harmed by reduced competition if UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys combine.
Attorneys for the two companies and the Justice Department will appear in federal court next week for a scheduling conference.
