Home Health & Hospice Week

Don’t count the United HealthGroup acquisition of Amedisys Inc. a done deal quite yet.

In an Oct. 3 letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) urge the regulators “to closely scrutinize UnitedHealth’s proposed acquisition of Amedisys, and oppose the growing trend of insurers buying up health care providers to reduce competition and pad their profits at the expense of their patients.”

Among other problems, “without regulatory intervention, UHG has been able to reap excessive benefits by owning numerous components of the health care system and incentivizing its subsidiaries to maximize profit over care,” Warren and Jayapal charge.

The 10-page letter is at www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023.10.03 Letter to DOJ and FTC re United Health Amedisys Acquistion1.pdf.

And Warren and Jayapal aren’t the only federal lawmakers training their sights on the home health and hospice arena.

Senate Special Committee on Aging Chair Bob Casey (D-Penn.) sent an Oct. 3 letter to Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure raising concerns about Medicaid managed care organizations limiting access to in-home care, among other services. Casey cites multiple home care examples.

“MCOs’ footprint has grown tremendously to become what CMS recently described as the ‘dominant delivery system’ for Medicaid, providing … coverage to more than 67 million Americans, which accounts for 84 percent of Medicaid enrollees,” Casey notes. “I look forward to working with you to further strengthen [Medicaid] to ensure patients receive the care they deserve,” he concludes at www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_cms_regarding_medicaid_mcos.pdf.