Case 94 LHC Group

Abstract

LHC Group is a post-acute healthcare service provider. By the year 2022, the company had 920 service providers in 37 states in the United States. LHC provides services in five segments – home health services, hospice services, home- and community-based services, facility-based services, and healthcare innovations. The facility-based services are primarily offered through its long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). The home health services offer a broad range of services such as skilled nursing, medically oriented social services, and physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Home health agencies facilitate nurses, home health aides, and therapists to design and implement individualized treatment plan for patients in accordance with a physician-prescribed plan of care. In 2022, LHC operated 527 home health service locations. The hospice segment offers end-of-life care to patients with terminal illnesses through the services of interdisciplinary teams consisting of physicians, nurses, home health aides, counselors, and volunteers. The hospice segment offers wide range of services which include pain and symptom management, emotional and spiritual support, homemaker services, and counseling. By the year end 2022, the company offered 159 hospice locations. The home- and community-based segment offers services related to activities of daily living to elderly, chronically ill, and disabled patients. This segment had operations in 128 locations. The LTACH location offers services primarily to patients with complex medical conditions who have been transitioned out of a hospital intensive care unit. By 2022, the LTACH had 367 licensed beds. The healthcare innovation (HCI) segment, comprised of Imperium Health Management, LLC; Long Term Solutions, Inc.; and Advance Care House Calls, aims to enhance the provision of services in other segments to benefit patients and payors, offering accountable care organization enablement, in-home assessments for the long-term care insurance industry, and primary medical care for patients with chronic and acute illnesses who struggle to visit a doctor’s office. In the year 2022, LHC Group Inc. and UnitedHealth Group entered into an agreement and plan of merger with UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiary Lightning Merger Sub Inc. As a result of the merger plan, LHC Group was delisted from the Nasdaq stock market. The company employs approximately 30,000 employees in 37 states of the United States. The 5-year holding period return for LHC Group Inc stock was 164% during the period 2017–2022.