Humana is acquiring a major stake in Kindred Healthcare’s home care division for about $800 million in the latest move by an insurer to lower costs by providing healthcare services.
Humana will receive 40% of Kindred at Home as part of a joint venture with private-equity firms TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe that is acquiring Kindred Healthcare for about $4 billion.
Kindred Healthcare will be split into two companies, with the remaining 60% of Kindred at Home being owned by Humana’s partners. Humana will not be involved in the other company, which will consist of Kindred’s long-term acute care and rehabilitation businesses.
Kindred at Home employs 40,000 caregivers who provide home healthcare to about 130,000 patients daily. According to Forbes, the acquisition will further Humana’s strategy of keeping patients — particularly members of its Medicare plans for seniors — out of the hospital and cared for in lower-cost outpatient settings.
“We are excited about the opportunity this acquisition provides to advance our vision for integrated care delivery,” Humana CEO Bruce Broussard said in a news release. “We believe that care in the home is a vital element of improving the health of seniors living with chronic conditions, allowing them to receive services in the comfort of their home, with less time in more costly institutional settings.”
As Reuters reports, Humana’s move is the latest by a health insurer company to form closer relationships with providers of lower cost medical care. The Optum unit of UnitedHealth Group earlier this month said it was buying DaVita Medical Group for $4.9 billion while pharmacy chain CVS Health announced it would buy Aetna, the nation’s No. 3 insurer, for $69 billion.
Humana itself agreed two years ago to be bought by Aetna but that deal was blocked by federal antitrust regulators.
The company has the right to purchase the private equity firms’ stake in Kindred at Home at the end of the third year. “We look forward to transforming post-acute care through a value-based approach that will deliver improved clinical outcomes, ultimately lowering medical costs,” William Fleming, president of Humana’s Healthcare Services unit, said.
