Diane Eastabrook

Option Care Health CEO John Rademacher said an Option Care Health-Amedisys deal would create something “unique and different.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an explosion in hospital-at-home, offering hospitals the potential of expanding admissions without adding additional beds.

Option Care Health responded quickly to Optum’s unsolicited bid, stressing the near-term and long-term advantages of its previously announced, all-stock deal with Amedisys.

The escalating hospital-at-home market is attracting new players to the space, who are offering turnkey and a la cart services to providers.

A growing number of states are using COVID relief funds to start Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly as an alternative to nursing homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove some cancer treatment into the home, but safety concerns and reimbursement remain barriers to growth.

Minnesota lawmakers passed legislation creating a board that will set wages and benefits for nursing home workers statewide.

Medicare Advantage insurers are driving massive consolidation in home health by acquiring companies and setting reimbursement rates.

The federal government waived rules and created flexibilities to ease the burden on the healthcare sector during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Most of the changes will end Thursday.

Home health providers are challenging a proposed rule by CMS requiring states to allocate 80% of Medicaid HCBS funding to caregiver wages.

The proposed merger between Option Care Health and Amedisys is part of a continuing consolidation trend in healthcare.

The all-stock transaction would create a mammoth provider of post-acute care services that also would include hospital-at-home and palliative care.