Attorney General James Takes Action to Protect Access to Health Services in Western New York

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined the attorneys general of Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey in securing new measures to prevent UnitedHealth Group (United) and Amedisys from dominating home health and hospice care markets and jeopardizing services for vulnerable patients. In November 2024, the attorneys general sued to challenge United’s acquisition of Amedisys, which could have threatened the quality of critical health care services for millions of seniors and others by eliminating competition among providers. As a result of the lawsuit, United and Amedisys must now sell home health and hospice care facilities to other providers in affected states before merging to prevent an unfair monopoly and preserve competition that helps vulnerable patients access high-quality, low-cost services. 

“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.” 

United and Amedisys are each other’s top competitors in many home health markets across the country, including in upstate New York. This type of competition forces both companies to improve the quality of their services and keep costs low, benefitting New Yorkers who rely on them for care. For example, both United and Amedisys have invested heavily in developing programs aimed at managing specific conditions, such as heart failure or respiratory diseases, in order to attract more patients. As Attorney General James and the coalition argued in their lawsuit, a merger of United and Amedisys without adequate protections to preserve competition would likely leave vulnerable patients and their families with worse care and higher prices.

As part of a settlement with the coalition of states and the Department of Justice (DOJ), United and Amedisys must divest from home health and hospice care providers they own in the same regions to preserve competition before merging. In New York, United will sell three Willcare home health locations in Jamestown, Amherst, and Wellsville to BrightSpring Health Services. A monitor selected by DOJ and the states will oversee the divestments and ensure the companies are complying with the terms of the settlement.

Attorney General James has consistently taken action to protect New Yorkers from unfair anticompetitive tactics. In April, Attorney General James secured over $2.5 million from New York City bus tour companies that illegally colluded to limit competition. In March, Attorney General James won her case against Intermountain Management when a judge ruled the ski resort owner illegally stifled competition after it purchased and shut down its main competitor. Also in March, Attorney General James secured a settlement with the NCAA that will end its anticompetitive rules preventing student athletes from learning about name, image, and likeness compensation opportunities before committing to a school. In January 2025 and December 2024, Attorney General James secured settlements stopping anticompetitive no-poach agreements in the building services industry. In August 2024, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general led by Attorney General James won a major court victory in their case against Google after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that Google has maintained an illegal monopoly of online search engines.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Saami Zain and Isabella Pitt, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane and Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann of the Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is part of the Division for Economic Justice, led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

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