The Department of Justice has moved to significantly curb UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys, Inc., requiring one of the largest divestitures of outpatient healthcare services to date. Under the proposed consent decree, UnitedHealth and Amedisys must divest 164 home health and hospice facilities across 19 states, representing more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue. The settlement also imposes strict oversight, including a court-appointed monitor, and grants divestiture buyers not only physical assets but also personnel and contractual relationships necessary to maintain competitive parity in affected markets.
Beyond the divestitures, Amedisys faces a $1.1 million civil penalty for misrepresentations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, a rare enforcement measure underscoring the risks of incomplete or misleading filings. The agreement requires antitrust compliance training for corporate and field leadership, highlighting the DOJ’s increasing scrutiny of procedural integrity in merger reviews. For corporate counsel, the case reinforces the heightened expectations around pre-merger notification obligations and the DOJ’s willingness to deploy both structural and behavioral remedies to preserve competition in healthcare services.
