Legacy Care Partners Acquires Superior Home Health and Superior Hospice of Texas

Legacy Care Partners – which also owns Advanced Home Care – has acquired Superior Home Health and Superior Hospice of Texas.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We extend a warm welcome to Superior Home Health and Superior Hospice into the Legacy Care Partners family,” Legacy Care Partners President and CEO Brian McDonald said in a statement. “This strategic acquisition positions us to broaden our impact in Texas, ensuring that more communities have access to the high-quality healthcare services they deserve.”

Based in Wisconsin, Legacy Care Partners provides a wide range of health care services across four states, also including Florida, Michigan and Texas.

It has expanded its footprint significantly through the Super Home Health and Superior Hospice acquisition, as the latter has seven locations across Texas and serves 50 counties and 500 cities.

“As Superior approaches its 20th anniversary, this business combination enhances and leverages synergies, expanding and strengthening the Superior brand as a subsidiary of Legacy Care Partners,” Super Home Health and Superior Hospice President Belinda Juarez said in a statement.

SSM Health Acquires Visiting Nurse Association of Greater St. Louis

SSM Health, a Missouri-based health system, has acquired the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater St. Louis.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are excited about the opportunity to unite with this highly respected health care organization to further expand access to high-quality compassionate health care services across the full continuum in the St. Louis region,” Denise Gloede, president of continuum of care at SSM Health, said in a statement. “Together, we’ll be able to serve more patients and families who are depending on us.”

The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater St. Louis provides a range of home-based care services, including home health, hospice, palliative care and private-duty care. It will now fall under the umbrella of SSM Health at Home.

SSM Health, meanwhile, is a nonprofit health system that provides care across four states: Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. The organization already had a home health and hospice operation prior to the acquisition.

“I could not be prouder of the exceptional health care legacy we’ve built at the VNA and the decision to join SSM Health was not made lightly,” VNA President and CEO Nesa Joseph said in a statement. “Our missions, values and cultures are very similar – focused on employee and physician partnership, continuous quality improvement, and patient-centered care with a special concern for the poor and vulnerable. Ultimately, we believe SSM Health is the right partner to ensure we’re able to continue meeting the growing and evolving needs of the individuals and families we serve.”

IntellaTriage’s NurseLine acquisition

The Brentwood, Tennessee-based IntellaTriage has acquired NurseLine, a provider of home health and hospice triage services.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“NurseLine has built a remarkable reputation for delivering high-quality hospice triage,” IntellaTriage CEO Daniel Reese said in a statement. “This acquisition aligns with our long-term goals to advance healthcare through cutting-edge technology and expert clinical support. Together, we are well-positioned to offer unparalleled solutions to post-acute providers, improving patient outcomes, reducing nurse burnout, and increasing operational efficiency.”

IntellaTriage provides nurse triage shortages throughout the day and night. It partners with health care providers, including home health agencies, to “reduce burnout and improve patient experience.”

In 2022, IntellaTriage received funding from Pacific Lake Partners, among others. Now, with the like-minded NurseLine underneath its belt, it has begun expanding its reach.

“We are excited to join forces with IntellaTriage, a company that shares our commitment to delivering exceptional care to patients and their families any time of day,” NurseLine CEO Devang Patel said in a statement. “Together, we will continue to redefine the future of after-hours care, providing health care providers with the support services they need to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care.”

Cigna Offloads Medicare Advantage Business

The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) is selling its Medicare insurance plans to Health Care Service Corp., a Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer. The price tag was $3.7 billion.

In the deal, Health Care Service Corp. will take on about 600,000 Medicare Advantage plan members, in addition to Medicare beneficiaries who have Medicare-based prescription drug plans with Cigna.

Though the price tag is large, Cigna was not a major MA player in comparison to its peers. For instance, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has close to 9 million MA beneficiaries, while Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) has nearly 6 million.

At one point, when Cigna and Humana were considering combining, offloading the MA business seemed like a way to avoid antitrust issues. Those talks came to an end in December, however, and Cigna still went ahead with the sale.

It appears, in the end, that the juice from MA business was simply not worth the squeeze for Cigna.