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UnitedHealth said Optum recorded a 10% increase in home health visits over the past year and identified home-based care as a high-performing service line. Executives described plans to expand selected care offerings and a payer partnership spanning hospital, skilled nursing and home health services, while Optum Health revenue fell 10% year over year in the third quarter of 2026.
Optum’s home health visits increased 10% over the past year, UnitedHealth Group said during its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, identifying home health as one of the services performing strongly as the company looks to expand care delivered beyond hospitals. Optum Health CEO Krista Nelson also described a payer partnership designed to manage risk across a post-acute care pathway, from an inpatient hospital stay through skilled nursing and home health.
Nelson said there is a significant opportunity to expand home health, along with other high-performing care options, to deepen Optum’s presence in markets. She said the company’s clinical programs, including home health, performed strongly in the quarter and that leadership expects their performance to be durable as UnitedHealth heads into 2027. Those statements describe the company’s assessment and outlook; the company did not provide a forecast for how much visits will grow next year.
Optum is UnitedHealth Group’s services arm, and Optum Health is its patient-care business, with a focus on fully accountable value-based care. Optum served more than 120 million patients in Q3 2026. Optum’s revenue was $66.9 billion, compared with $69.2 billion a year earlier. Optum Health reported $22.9 billion in revenue, down 10% year over year.
UnitedHealth attributed Optum Health’s revenue decline to serving fewer value-based care patients in markets where the business did not have enough value-based care presence to sustain clinicians. The company also reported strong overall third-quarter performance, which CEO Patrick Conway linked to a continued return to value-based care principles, clinical programs and operational improvements. The results put the reported growth in home health visits alongside a broader business picture that includes lower revenue in Optum Health.
Home Health in Optum’s Growth Plans
The increase matters because it gives a concrete measure of activity in a service line UnitedHealth says it sees room to expand. Home health can be part of care after a hospital stay and may help connect patients with services outside institutional settings. UnitedHealth’s comments point to the role the company wants home-based care to play in a broader post-acute strategy, rather than reporting a standalone change in how the service is delivered.
The financial results add a counterpoint. While visits rose, Optum Health revenue declined 10% in the quarter, and UnitedHealth said fewer value-based care patients in some markets contributed to that decline. The company has not said how much the rise in visits affected revenue, costs or patient outcomes, so the visit growth should not be read as proof that the service line improved financial performance overall.
The payer partnership may also matter to health plans and care providers because it covers several stages of post-acute care. UnitedHealth says the arrangement extends from inpatient hospital care through skilled nursing facilities and home health, potentially giving the payer and care provider a way to manage risk across settings. The company has not disclosed the partner or the terms, limiting what can be concluded about the arrangement’s scale.
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Quarterly Results and Care Strategy
The reported visit increase was discussed during UnitedHealth’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call, where executives addressed both financial results and care delivery. Optum generated $66.9 billion in quarterly revenue, down from $69.2 billion in the same period a year earlier. Optum Health’s $22.9 billion in revenue was also lower than a year earlier, with UnitedHealth citing patient counts and market presence in its explanation.
Executives described home health as one of several high-performing service lines. UnitedHealthcare President Robert Hunter also named hospice, surgery centers, Medicare Advantage dual-eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs), chronic condition special needs plans (C-SNPs) and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Hunter said demand for products addressing post-acute care risk was strong and that the company was pleased with results. UnitedHealth leaders also said trends in home- and community-based services remained elevated, though they were moderating slightly.
These comments reflect company-reported performance and leadership’s characterization of demand. The earnings-call material provided no detailed breakdown of visits by geography, patient type or care need, and it did not compare the 10% increase with a stated multi-year trend.
“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, during UnitedHealth’s third-quarter earnings call
Details Behind the Visit Increase
UnitedHealth did not provide the number of visits behind the 10% increase, specify the exact comparison dates, or break the change down by market or patient group in the supplied report. The company also did not explain whether the increase reflects more patients receiving home health, more visits per patient, or a combination of factors.
The identity of the payer partner, the size and geographic reach of the post-acute arrangement, and its financial terms were not disclosed. The earnings-call remarks also do not quantify the effect of the partnership on hospital readmissions, patient outcomes, spending or Optum’s revenue. Those outcomes should not be inferred from the company’s description of the program.
UnitedHealth said home- and community-based service trends remained elevated but were moderating slightly, without providing a measure or timeframe for that moderation. It is also unclear how the reported visit growth will develop through 2027 or how it will relate to Optum Health’s revenue and patient counts.
Expansion Plans Through 2027
UnitedHealth executives indicated that they expect selected care programs, including home health-related offerings, to expand inside 2027. The company did not announce a specific timetable, investment amount, market rollout or target for additional visits. Further detail may come in later earnings updates or company disclosures, but the supplied report does not identify a date for a next announcement.
Investors, providers and patients will be watching for whether UnitedHealth provides more information on the payer partnership, the markets where Optum plans to build its presence, and the relationship between visit growth and Optum Health’s financial results. For now, the confirmed development is the reported 10% rise in visits over the past year, alongside company statements about expansion opportunities and a post-acute care partnership.
Key Questions
How much did Optum home health visits increase?
UnitedHealth said Optum’s home health visits rose 10% over the past year. The supplied report does not give the number of visits or a more specific comparison period.
What did UnitedHealth say about expanding home health?
Optum Health CEO Krista Nelson said the company sees a significant opportunity to expand home health and other high-performing care options. She did not provide a target, timetable or list of markets for expansion.
What is the post-acute care partnership?
Nelson said Optum expanded its ability to manage risk across a post-acute care continuum with one payer, spanning inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facilities and home health. UnitedHealth did not name the payer or disclose the partnership’s terms.
Did Optum Health revenue rise with the increase in visits?
No. Optum Health reported $22.9 billion in Q3 2026 revenue, down 10% year over year. UnitedHealth attributed the decline to fewer value-based care patients in markets where Optum lacked enough presence to sustain clinicians. The company did not quantify how home health visits affected revenue.
Source: rss
