VitalCaring Group – the home health and hospice company led by April Anthony – got caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week. The company responded, however, defending its current state and re-emphasizing where it plans to go.

VitalCaring agreed to acquire divested assets from Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) in June. So long as UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) takeover of Amedisys went through, VitalCaring would be the beneficiary of certain Amedisys locations.

From the Amedisys perspective, it was a way to get ahead of antitrust concerns, given the fact that UnitedHealth Group already owns LHC Group – another one of the largest home health providers in the country.

But the DOJ was not satisfied with VitalCaring as a divestment partner. Broadly, the DOJ said it was concerned about a young company growing so quickly with the acquisition, and also suggested assets VitalCaring previously acquired had seen a reduction in quality post-acquisition.

VitalCaring released a statement Tuesday, however, saying that it believed the UnitedHealth Group-Amedisys merger, as well as the divestiture, were in the “best interest of patients and stakeholders.” The company called the DOJ’s presentation of VitalCaring incomplete and inaccurate.

“VitalCaring leadership team is led by the company’s CEO April Anthony, who previously founded and ran leading companies in the home health care and hospice sectors, Encompass Home Health and Hospice and Homecare Homebase,” the VitalCaring statement read. “The management team is made up of other industry veterans, with long experience in building and operating large home health and hospice companies. VitalCaring is owned by Vistria Group, Nautic Partners and Anthony Family Investment Partners, each seasoned and reputable investors, all of whom have demonstrated their unwavering support for the capital needs of the business.”

Based in Dallas, VitalCaring has a footprint of about 65 locations located throughout the Southeastern U.S.

April Anthony is one of the most well-known and accomplished leaders in the home health industry. The Vistria Group and Nautic Partners – the former, in particular – are both seasoned home-based care investors.

“We are deeply disappointed in the DOJ’s decision to seek to block this strategic transaction,” Anthony said in a statement. “Our management team is highly experienced, and our investors are committed to the long-term growth of the company. We are fully prepared to successfully integrate the divested assets into VitalCaring’s operations and to build upon the proven track record of success that this leadership team brings to these markets and this task. The divested assets will be an important part of VitalCaring’s ongoing efforts to expand and enhance our service offerings throughout the US, and we are fully capable of integrating the assets and continuing to be a high quality and highly competitive service provider.”

VitalCaring also added that it “consistently exceeds” national averages on quality and patient satisfaction metrics.

The DOJ did not offer specifics around what it called “financial underperformance” from VitalCaring over its first couple of years, but there could be some obvious explanations. For instance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has cut payments to home health providers three years in a row, and Medicare Advantage (MA) penetration has continued.

Part of the reason VitalCaring wants to gain more scale, in fact, is so it can negotiate on higher ground with MA plans.

“It’s about how we pursue that pivot to the Medicare episodic, and then how we get in front of these payers and justify why they should think about us – and pay us – differently,” Anthony told Home Health Care News last year. “We’ll see if we can turn those conversations into contracts. But so far, it’s more conversations than contracts.”

During an M&A downturn in home-based care, VitalCaring has been enthusiastic about the chance to grow through acquisition.

“The home health and hospice sectors are an integral part of healthcare, and we are excited about the opportunity to further enhance our contribution to this important area of care,” Anthony continued in her statement. “We look forward to continuing to be a leader in this space and to providing exceptional, compassionate care to those who need it most.”