• Kentucky: Humana has completed its acquisition of MaxHealth, a primary care clinic operator, from private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners. Through the deal, Humana gained 54 primary care clinics, four specialty sites, and 24 affiliated facilities for its CenterWell healthcare services arm. Although the companies did not disclose financial details of the deal, Bloomberg recently reported that MaxHealth was valued at roughly $1 billion. According to Modern Healthcare, Humana has focused on growing its primary care footprint over the last few years. During a company earnings call earlier this month, Humana president and CEO Jim Rechtin said the company would continue building out provider services for its Medicare Advantage members and that it would announce another new acquisition soon. (Tepper, Modern Healthcare, 2/13)
• Pennsylvania: Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will invest over $1 billion in a next-generation cell therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. The new investment is part of the company's plan to invest $55 billion in domestic manufacturing, research and development, and technology through early 2029. According to J&J, the new facility will help create over 4,000 construction jobs and 500 biomanufacturing jobs. In recent months, several drugmakers have announced plans to invest in new domestic drug manufacturing facilities, often in exchange for relief from tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals. (Miller, Wall Street Journal, 2/18)
• Texas: Judge Jeremy Kernodle of Texas' Eastern District has struck down an FTC regulation that required companies to provide the agency with more information ahead of mergers and acquisitions. The rule, which was originally finalized in 2024 under the Biden administration and went into effect last year, added several new disclosures to the premerger form, including information on company officers, foreign subsidies, and more. In January 2025, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and three other groups sued the federal government, arguing that the regulation violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The American Hospital Association also opposed the regulation, saying in an amicus brief that the rule would "significantly increase the complexity and costs of pursuing valuable merger activity." According to FTC, the new merge form would take companies an average of 105 hours to completed compared to 37 with the previous form. In his ruling, Kernodle said the rule exceeded FTC's statutory authority. Kernodle also said the agency was unable to show the regulation's benefits would outweigh its "significant and widespread costs." Although Kernodle's ruling vacates the rule, he stayed the order seven days to allow FTC time to seek emergency relief from an appeals court. "We are reviewing the ruling and weighing our options," said Joseph Simonson, director of the FTC's Office of Public Affairs. (Olsen, Healthcare Dive, 2/18)

The past few years of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have seemingly created a new dichotomy for hospital and health system leaders: Either merge or risk losing market relevance. But is M&A really an answer to today's healthcare challenges? Here are three ways the evidence often doesn't live up to the hype.