M&A

UnitedHealth Group's Optum unit has agreed to buy Lafayette, La.-based home-health firm LHC. 

UnitedHealth Group is mounting its defense against the Justice Department's challenge to its proposed $13 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare, arguing the government's case is "flawed." 

Minneapolis-based UCare will bid on a contract that would allow the health plan to manage care for a large group of beneficiaries in Iowa's Medicaid program, the Star Tribune reported March 7.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Ohio closed its acquisition of a state Medicaid contract from Paramount Advantage Feb. 15. 

Two Huntington, W.Va.-based health systems, Marshall Health and Mountain Health Network, have become co-owners of West Virginia University Health System-founded payer Peak Health. 

The National Community Pharmacists Association is urging the Federal Trade Commission to block UnitedHealth Group's acquisition of Change Healthcare, according to a Feb. 2 letter to the organization.

Florida Blue parent company GuideWell finalized its acquisition of Puerto Rico-based Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate Triple-S Management Corp., according to a news release shared with Becker's. 

Cigna discussed a potential acquisition of Centene in the final months of 2021, but nothing has come of the preliminary conversations, according to a Jan. 26 Bloomberg report. 

Days after securing final regulatory approval, Centene completed its $2.2 billion acquisition of Phoenix-based behavioral health provider Magellan Health, the company announced Jan. 4. 

Molina Healthcare purchased Texas Medicaid contracts from Cigna, adding about 50,000 new members.