Controlling The Controllables: Home Health Giants Improving MA Contracts, Staffing Amid Rate Cuts

The odds are stacked against home health providers. Even while more care is heading to the home, providers have three fundamental problems. The first is that there is an insufficient workforce to meet demand. The second and third are both rate-related. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is actively reducing home health reimbursement […]

What An Amedisys-LHC Group Combination Under Optum Would Mean For The Home Health Market

Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) disclosed Monday that UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum submitted an acquisition bid. That makes for a competition between Optum and Amedisys’ current merger partner, Option Care Health (Nasdaq: OPCH). At this point, it’s unclear whether Optum will ultimately land Amedisys, though early analyst comments suggest Optum’s bid may be more favorable […]

[Updated] UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Makes Bid For Home Health Giant Amedisys

UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum has made an unsolicited proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Amedisys’ common stock in an all-cash transaction for $100 per share, the latter announced Monday morning. This could represent a “superior proposal” to Option Care Health’s (Nasdaq: OPCH) proposed deal for Amedisys. Option Care Health and Amedisys […]

Home Health Hiring Market ‘Continues To Be Incredibly Competitive,’ But Savvy Operators Are Finding Ways To Set Themselves Apart

Staffing shortages are the No. 1 industry headwind that home-based care providers are facing. At the same time, ubiquity of this issue has created an environment where the most innovative providers have been able to rise to occasion, cultivating staffing strategies that have allowed them to lessen the impact of the persistent pain point. “There’s […]

Why Home Health Payment Uncertainty Could Lead To More Strategic M&A

While some of the other subsectors already have more clarity on what their CY2024 may look like, home health operators are still operating in the dark. The home health proposed payment rule is still likely a month away, and the final rule likely more than four months out. It seems most are expecting the worse […]

The Driving Forces Behind The $3.6B Option Care Health, Amedisys Merger

Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) and Option Care Health (Nasdaq: OPCH) announced Wednesday that they would be merging in a deal that valued the former at $3.6 billion. There are many reasons why this deal makes strategic sense. The overlap in home-based services makes sense. The combined company will now be able to deliver home health […]