New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with attorneys general from Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey, has reached an agreement to prevent UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys from gaining excessive control over home health and hospice care markets. The move comes after a lawsuit was filed in November 2024 to challenge United’s proposed acquisition of Amedisys. Officials argued that the merger could reduce competition and put millions of seniors and other vulnerable patients at risk by potentially lowering the quality of care and increasing costs.
As part of the settlement, UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys must divest certain home health and hospice care facilities in affected states before proceeding with their merger. In New York, this will involve United selling three Willcare home health locations—Jamestown, Amherst, and Wellsville—to BrightSpring Health Services. Oversight for these divestments will be provided by a monitor selected by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state officials.
“When big corporations dominate our health care markets, they can cut services and raise prices without fear of losing money, putting New Yorkers in need at serious risk,” said Attorney General James. “Fair competition helps ensure that New Yorkers can get affordable, quality health care wherever they live. Seniors and other vulnerable New Yorkers’ lives depend on access to quality home care services, and today we are preventing United and Amedisys from jeopardizing those services.”
The two companies have been significant competitors in several home health markets nationwide—including upstate New York—which has driven both firms to enhance service quality while controlling costs. They have each developed programs targeting specific medical conditions such as heart failure or respiratory diseases to attract more patients. State officials expressed concern that merging without safeguards would diminish this competitive pressure.
Attorney General James has previously taken steps against anticompetitive behavior in various industries. Recent actions include securing over $2.5 million from bus tour companies found colluding to limit competition in New York City; winning a case against Intermountain Management regarding anti-competitive practices in the ski resort industry; achieving a settlement with the NCAA related to student athlete compensation opportunities; stopping no-poach agreements within building services; and leading a bipartisan coalition that won a court victory finding Google maintained an illegal online search monopoly.
The case was managed by Assistant Attorneys General Saami Zain and Isabella Pitt under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane and Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann from the Antitrust Bureau, which operates within the Division for Economic Justice led by Chris D’Angelo with oversight from First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
