June 5 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) on Monday made a surprise $3.26 billion all-cash offer to acquire Amedisys Inc (AMED.O), pitting itself against another healthcare company set to buy the home health and hospice care firm. UnitedHealth, through its Optum unit, offered to pay $100 per share in cash, just a month after Amedisys agreed to be bought by Option Care Health Inc (OPCH.O) for $97.38 per share in an all-stock deal. If Optum's offer is accepted by Amedisys, the deal will expand UnitedHealth's presence in home healthcare that it bolstered this year through a $5.4 billion deal to buy Amedisys' rival, LHC Group. Several analysts raised concerns that a UnitedHealth deal would likely face scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, given UnitedHealth's home health presence. Amedisys' board has not yet determined whether Optum's offer is superior to Option Health's and is currently in exploratory discussions with the UnitedHealth unit.

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Persons: Amedisys, Jefferies, Brian Tanquilut, Oppenheimer, Michael Wiederhorn, Leroy Leo, Shounak Dasgupta, Shinjini Organizations: UnitedHealth, Amedisys Inc, Care Health Inc, LHC, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Care, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru