Like Humana, UnitedHealth Moves to Buy Home Care Assets
UnitedHealth Group said on March 29 that it will spend approximately $6 billion in cash to purchase LHC Group, Inc., a home health care company. Experts tell AIS Health, a division of MMIT, that the move will bolster UnitedHealth’s current strengths and help the integrated benefits and care delivery giant hold on to the top spot in Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment.
According to Moody’s Investor Service, UnitedHealth will spend $5.4 billion to purchase stock in LHC and use another $600 million to amortize LHC debt. Dean Ungar, Moody’s senior vice president and senior credit officer, wrote in a March 30 note to investors that the deal “is a classic [UnitedHealth] acquisition in that it modestly increases consolidated [UnitedHealth] leverage, but does not pose significant integration risk and should incrementally strengthen the business over time,” adding that the deal should close in the second half of the year.
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