UnitedHealth Group Withdraws Motion to Dismiss Antitrust Challenge

UnitedHealth Group has withdrawn its motion to dismiss the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit challenging its proposed acquisition of Amedisys, a home care and hospice provider. According to the Minnesota Tribune, the healthcare giant stated that new information provided by the government in late January rendered its initial motion moot.

Last November, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit arguing that UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Amedisys would be presumptively anticompetitive. The agency claimed the merger would reduce competition in the home health and hospice industry. However, per the Minnesota Tribune, UnitedHealth initially contested the suit on the grounds that the government had not specified the geographic boundaries of the affected markets.

On January 29, the Justice Department responded to the motion by filing a list of 381 service areas where it alleged the acquisition would negatively impact competition. UnitedHealth Group, in its latest filing, acknowledged that this submission “finally identified” the locations in question, leading the company to withdraw its motion.

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The Justice Department maintained that it had already provided UnitedHealth and Amedisys with detailed geographic information before filing the lawsuit. In its court filing, the agency criticized the company’s motion, arguing it was an attempt to gain premature discovery into the government’s case. “This motion is defendants’ latest attempt to obtain improper, premature discovery into details of the geographic markets alleged by plaintiffs,” the filing stated.

On Thursday, Judge James Bredar of the U.S. District Court of Maryland ordered the motion to dismiss withdrawn. He also noted that UnitedHealth Group intends to formally respond to the Justice Department’s complaint, after which the court will schedule a conference to proceed with the case.

Per the Minnesota Tribune, UnitedHealth Group has pointed out that its Optum health services division and Amedisys currently operate in 37 and 40 states, respectively. However, the company argues that their combined market share accounts for only 12% of home health visits and 5% of hospice visits nationwide, suggesting that the merger would not significantly hinder competition.

The Justice Department, supported by attorneys general from Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, contends that the merger would harm both patients and labor markets by consolidating two of the largest home health and hospice providers in the country. With the motion to dismiss now withdrawn, the case is set to move forward, with both parties preparing for the next legal steps.

Source: Minnesota Tribune