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UnitedHealth Group said Optum’s home health visits increased 10% over the past year, calling home health one of Optum Health’s strong-performing care lines. Executives also described a payer partnership extending risk management across hospital, skilled nursing and home health care. Optum Health’s revenue fell 10% year over year in the third quarter, which UnitedHealth attributed to fewer value-based care patients in some markets.
Optum’s home health visits rose 10% over the past year, UnitedHealth Group executives said during the company’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call, identifying home health as one of Optum Health’s strong-performing care services. The company also described a payer partnership to manage care and financial risk across hospital stays, skilled nursing facilities and home health, as it looks to extend services in markets where it has a stronger presence.
Krista Nelson, CEO of Optum Health, said the company sees an opportunity to expand home health and other high-performing care modalities to deepen its presence in markets. Nelson described strong performance across clinical programs, including home health, and said the performance would be durable as the company heads into 2027. The earnings-call remarks do not specify how many visits the 10% increase represents or give a more detailed measurement period beyond the past year.
Nelson also said Optum had expanded its post-acute work through a partnership with one of its payers. “This year, in partnership with one of our payers, we’ve expanded our ability to manage risk across a post-acute continuum,” she said, describing care from an inpatient hospital stay through a skilled nursing facility and home health. UnitedHealthcare President Robert Hunter said the company had seen demand for products addressing post-acute risk and reported improved access to timely care and home health utilization.
Optum served more than 120 million patients in the third quarter of 2026, according to the source report. Optum’s revenue was $66.9 billion, down from $69.2 billion a year earlier. Optum Health revenue was $22.9 billion, a 10% year-over-year decline. UnitedHealth attributed that decline to fewer value-based care patients in markets where it said Optum lacked enough presence to support clinicians.
Home Health in Optum’s Growth Plans
The reported rise in visits places home health among the services UnitedHealth says it wants to build out, alongside other care options that can serve patients after a hospital stay. The payer partnership described by Nelson connects home health with earlier stages of post-acute care, offering a way for the company to manage care across settings rather than treating each setting separately. The source material does not give details on the partnership’s size, terms or outcomes.
The figures also show a more mixed picture than visit growth alone. Optum Health revenue fell 10% year over year, and UnitedHealth linked the decline to a reduced number of value-based care patients in certain markets. The company’s account suggests that the reach of its provider network and its ability to sustain clinicians are factors in where it can serve patients. The reported visit increase is a company metric, not evidence on its own of improved health outcomes, lower costs or broader access across all markets.
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Optum’s Post-Acute Care Strategy
Optum is UnitedHealth Group’s services business, while Optum Health is its patient-care unit, focused on fully accountable value-based care. In that model, providers take responsibility for care and related costs for a defined group of patients. The source report says UnitedHealth executives framed the company’s third-quarter performance as reflecting a return to value-based care principles, strong clinical programs and operational improvements.
Home health was not the only service executives highlighted. Hunter named hospice, surgery centers, Medicare Advantage special needs plans, including D-SNPs and C-SNPs, and HMOs among high-performing lines. Executives also said trends in home- and community-based services remained elevated, though they were moderating slightly. Those remarks provide broader company context, but the source does not give comparable visit or revenue figures for each service.
“This year, in partnership with one of our payers, we’ve expanded our ability to manage risk across a post-acute continuum. Think from an inpatient hospital stay all the way through SNF and home health.”
— Krista Nelson, CEO of Optum Health
Visit Growth Lacks a Detailed Breakdown
The earnings-call information reported here does not provide the number of home health visits behind the 10% increase, the exact start and end dates used for the comparison, or a breakdown by market, patient group or service. It is also unclear how much of the increase came from the payer partnership, how many patients received home health, and whether the higher visit volume changed costs or clinical outcomes.
UnitedHealth’s stated reason for the decline in Optum Health revenue is the company’s explanation; the source report does not provide a market-by-market financial breakdown. Executives said home- and community-based service trends were elevated but moderating slightly, without quantifying that trend. The reported growth in visits and the stated improvement in access should not be read as proof that access improved for every patient or region.
Expansion Plans Point to 2027
Nelson said Optum sees room to expand home health and other high-performing services, while Hunter said some post-acute programs could expand inside 2027. The company did not provide a schedule, geographic targets or specific visit goals in the remarks described by the source report. Further details on the payer partnership and the markets involved would help clarify the scope of the planned expansion.
Investors and care providers will also be watching whether Optum can sustain home health activity while addressing the weakness in Optum Health revenue and the market-presence gaps cited by UnitedHealth. The source material does not identify a separate next milestone beyond the company’s stated 2027 outlook.
Key Questions
How much did Optum’s home health visits increase?
UnitedHealth executives said Optum’s home health visits increased 10% over the past year. The source report does not provide the underlying visit count or a more precise comparison period.
What did UnitedHealth say caused Optum Health revenue to decline?
UnitedHealth attributed Optum Health’s 10% year-over-year revenue decline to fewer value-based care patients in markets where the company said it did not have enough presence to sustain clinicians.
What does the post-acute payer partnership cover?
Optum Health CEO Krista Nelson said the partnership extends risk management across a post-acute continuum, from an inpatient hospital stay through skilled nursing and home health. The source report does not disclose the partner, terms or scale.
Does the 10% increase show that patient outcomes improved?
No outcome data were provided with the visit-growth figure. The reported increase is a measure of visit activity; it does not by itself establish improved health outcomes, lower costs or better access for all patients.
When might Optum expand these programs?
UnitedHealthcare President Robert Hunter said the company expected some post-acute programs to expand inside 2027. Executives did not provide specific dates, locations or expansion targets.
Source: rss
