Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the Department of Justice Antitrust Division has filed a lawsuit to challenge UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Amedisys, a home health and hospice care provider, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“We’re thrilled to see the DOJ challenge UnitedHealth’s latest anticompetitive acquisition—this one of a direct competitor in the home health and hospice care space,” said Emma Freer, Sr. Policy Analyst for Healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The cost of in-home healthcare for the elderly has skyrocketed over 14% since 2023, draining the savings of many families and putting the service out of reach altogether for others. This deal would exacerbate the crisis by eliminating head-to-head competition between Amedysis and recently-acquired UnitedHealth subsidiary LHC Group. As Amedysis’s former CEO and current Board Chairman put it, the ‘pure competition’ between Amedysis and United ‘keep[s] each other honest’ and ‘benefits … our patients.’ Home health and hospice care nurses also ‘receive better wages and other employment terms as a result of’ this competition, according to the complaint.”

“Having successfully forced UnitedHealth to abandon its most recent attempted anticompetitive acquisitions,” added Freer, “it’s great to see the Antitrust Division continue its strong track record of tackling healthcare consolidation by blocking this deal.”

Listed 4th on the Fortune 500, UnitedHealth Group (UHG) is a healthcare giant with a vast and expansive empire across the sector. One of the nation’s largest health insurers, UHG covers 53 million Americans, while its subsidiary OptumRx ranks among the largest pharmacy benefit mangers and mail-order pharmacies. Following years of aggressive acquisitions, UHG is also the country’s largest employer of physicians, with around 90,000 doctors. In 2023, it acquired LHC Group, a major provider in home health care, and now seeks to acquire Amedisys, a direct competitor in key regions, particularly the South, where the companies would no longer compete for business, opening the door to potential price hikes and service reductions.

UHG has a documented history of prioritizing its financial interests over patient welfare, often at the expense of competition and independent providers. It has been accused of violating antitrust laws, denying claims for medically necessary care, squeezing independent pharmacies and physician practices out of business, and manipulating data to maximize its profits. The DOJ attempted to block UHG’s acquisition of Change Healthcare in 2022, citing anticompetitive risks; the resulting 2024 cyberattack on Change paralyzed patient access to care and strained medical practices. Additionally, the FTC recently sued UHG’s PBM, OptumRx, for allegedly inflating insulin prices through an illegal rebate scheme. With this record of harmful practices, UHG’s consolidation of the home healthcare market raises significant concerns for patients and providers alike. Along with a reported DOJ monopolization probe, the DOJ also successfully forced UnitedHealth to abandon two attempted provider acquisitions this summer.

See our tracker of UnitedHealth’s documented abuses here.

See our tracker of lawsuits vs. UnitedHealth here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.