Cano Health Courts CVS, Humana as Buyout Suitors

Humana could be considering buying Cano Health, according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report citing unnamed sources.

This comes amid a broader movement of healthcare giants buying out primary-care providers.

The talks are reportedly “serious” and a final decision might come in the next few weeks if the talks don’t collapse. CVS was reportedly also interested in the deal, along with other unnamed companies.

Cano might be all-in with Humana, though, as the insurer has a right of first refusal on any sale — part of an agreement that was struck in 2019.

The ties between the companies are multiple, with Cano being Humana’s biggest independent primary-care provider in Florida, and the company operates 11 medical centers in Texas and Nevada where Humana is the exclusive health plan for Medicare Advantage, a private-sector alternative to Medicare, according to a filing cited by WSJ.

Cano operates primary care centers in California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Its work mostly includes serving Medicare Advantage members.

Humana already has work in primary care and is looking at expanding. Its CenterWell Senior Primary Care business joined with private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to open around 100 primary care clinics focused on senior care between 2023 and 2025.

PYMNTS wrote earlier in the year that Humana was among numerous companies that were entering the in-home health business.

Read more: Hospital at-Home Trend Builds as Optum, LHC Join Humana and Others as Care Shifts

Humana did so in August 2021 as it bought Kindred at Home, the country’s largest home health and hospice provider. That added to its at-home services as it debuted the CenterWell Home Health business.

“CenterWell strives to seamlessly incorporate patient data, coordinate care and handoffs, and communicate directly with patients as well as their providers, so living environments and social support networks are taken into account,” Humana said in a press release. “Being payer-agnostic, CenterWell accepts members and patients of a variety of Medicare Advantage, traditional Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans, not just those offered by Humana.”