OHA’s Health Care Market Oversight (HCMO) program reviews health care business deals to ensure they do not harm the state’s citizens or communities. In July, both UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys submitted responses to the OHA’s request for information. The authority is still seeking public comments on this matter.

In addition to the issue in Oregon, the deal has faced scrutiny from federal antitrust regulators, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Amedisys and UnitedHealth agreed to sell certain locations to Dallas-based VitalCaring Group, likely to address those antitrust concerns. That deal is contingent on the UnitedHealth Group-Amedisys deal closing, however.

“On an antitrust perspective, a number of states have adopted enhanced transaction notice requirements,” Les Levinson, partner and co-chair of the Transactional Health Law Group at Robinson+Cole, said during a recent Home Health Care News webinar. “There is a heightened interest in agencies being subject to a higher regulatory review. I think it’s something we have to pay attention to.”

UnitedHealth Group first agreed to purchase Amedisys – one of the largest home health providers in the country – in June 2023 for $3.3 billion.

According to comments published on the OHA website, the deal is not well-received by some groups in Oregon.

Mid Valley Health Care Advocates, based in Corvallis, Oregon, urged the OHA to deny the acquisition application, for instance.

“We are concerned that [UnitedHealth] as an insurer, and through Optum as a clinical provider and potentially as a home health and hospice provider, have the incentive and the ability to unfairly disadvantage competing providers and drive them from the market, reducing consumer choice,” the group said in a statement.

Another comment by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) read, “[UnitedHealth’s] track record of driving up profit margins at the expense of patients is not in alignment with Oregon values. Oregonians deserve high-quality, affordable health services; we are concerned that [UnitedHealth] will fail to provide that care if doing so interferes with their profitability. ONA urges OHA to reject the acquisition of Amedisys.”

With all that said, it is possible that a DOJ clearance of the deal could ultimately influence OHA’s decision, and move up the timeline to closure.

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