The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly rejected Amedisys’ (Nasdaq: AMED) and UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) attempt to divest assets, a move meant to quell antitrust concerns related to their planned merger.

On Monday, reports emerged that Amedisys’ and UnitedHealth’s plan to divest home health and hospice centers to the Pennant Group (Nasdaq: PNTG) and BrightSpring Health Services (Nasdaq: BTSG) had been rejected by the DOJ. CTFN first reported on this, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. 

A judge, who reportedly “wants the parties to reach a deal,” added a supplemental mediation meeting in addition to the planned Aug. 18 mediation date, according to the outlet. 

Amedisys, UnitedHealth and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Home Health Care News’ request for comment.

The report comes less than two weeks after Amedisys announced that it had agreed to sell the assets to Pennant and BrightSpring, dependent on the completion of the merger with UnitedHealth. 

If the planned divestiture falls through, it will be the second time Amedisys and UnitedHealth have failed to spin off assets to mitigate antitrust concerns. Four months ago, the companies halted plans to divest more than 100 home health and hospice locations to VitalCaring. 

The merger, announced in June 2023, was complicated when the DOJ and four states filed a lawsuit arguing that combining Amedisys with UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit would dampen competition in the home health and hospice industries. 

“Under the law, the proposed merger is presumptively anticompetitive and illegal,” the lawsuit read.

The suit also attested that even if the VitalCaring deal had gone through, the divestment would not resolve Amedisys’ and UnitedHealth’s overlapping home health and hospice markets.

The companies and the DOJ are in ongoing discussions, according to reports, with conversations with senior leaders expected in the coming weeks.