Hospice Operators Watching Closely as Large Payers Transform the Industry

For better or worse, the growing presence of large insurance companies in the hospice and home health provider space could be transformative for the industry.

Two transactions demonstrate rising interest among payers in owning the home-based care assets that serve their beneficiaries. Humana Inc. in 2021 acquired 100% ownership of Kindred at Home from its former private equity partners Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and TPG Capital.

But UnitedHealth Group’s subsidiary Optum was hot on Humana’s heels with an agreement to purchase LHC Group for $5.5 billion.