Kindred, Humana Crack Fortune 500 List for 2018

Only two companies with strong home health ties—Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) and Humana (NYSE: HUM)—graced this year’s Fortune 500 list, but the industry as a whole appears to be inching its way closer to the top.

The Fortune 500 list is an annual ranking of U.S. companies, both private and public, based on total revenues in their respective fiscal years. Companies that made the list in 2018 represented about two-thirds of U.S. GDP with nearly $12.8 trillion in revenues and $1 trillion in profits. This year’s list was the 64th edition.

Kindred checked in at No. 416 overall, or 40 spots below where it ranked in 2017. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company has now made it on Fortune’s well-known list 15 times in total.

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Incidentally, Humana is in the process of acquiring Kindred’s home health and hospice business, which is the largest in the nation. Kindred shareholders approved the sale of the company’s home health and hospice business to insurance giant Humana and two private equity groups in April.

Humana, also based in Louisville, dropped three spots on this year’s Fortune 500 list, coming in at No. 56. Humana has made it on the list a total of 24 times. Walmart, once rumored to be in pursuit of Humana, maintained its No. 1 spot atop Fortune’s list.

Besides Kindred and Humana, a handful of other companies with home health footprints landed just outside the top 500 in Fortune’s expanded rankings.

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Brentwood, Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) came close to making the top 500, checking in at No. 543 overall. In addition to being one of the 10 largest home health operators in the nation, Brookdale is the largest operator of private-pay senior housing communities.

Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC)—formerly HealthSouth, a top owner and operator of inpatient rehab hospitals—checked in at No. 606. HealthSouth acquired Encompass in 2014 and launched a rebranding effort in January. Encompass Health’s home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama, while its home health and hospice segment is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

California-based Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) checked in at No. 999 in Fortune’s expanded list.

Others health care companies to make the Fortune 500 list include: No. 5 UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH); No. 7 CVS Health (NYSE: CVS); No. 25 Express Scripts Holding (Nasdaq: ESRX); No. 29 Anthem (NYSE: ANTM); and No. 37 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), along with at least three dozen other companies.

Home health may be poised for even more appearances on the Fortune 500 list in the future, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects home health to be the fastest growing industry in terms of employment, a key measure often linked to revenue.

Written by Robert Holly

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