Humana Inc.
Company History
Humana History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky
When was Humana founded?
Humana was founded in 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky by Wendell Cherry and David A. Jones Sr., making it 65 years old.
- Founded
- 1961
- Founding place
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Founders
- Wendell Cherry and David A. Jones Sr.
- Headquarters today
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1961–2026)
- Current CEO
- James A. (Jim) Rechtin
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1961 | Heritage House Opens |
| 1968 | Extendicare IPO |
| 1974 | Renamed Humana |
| 1993 | Hospitals Spun Off |
| 2010 | Concentra Acquired |
| 2012 | Acquired Arcadian Management Services |
| 2015 | Aetna Merger Agreement |
| 2017 | Aetna Merger Blocked |
| 2021 | Full Ownership of Kindred at Home |
| 2024 | Jim Rechtin Becomes CEO |
| 2025 | $129.7B FY2025 Revenue |
| 2026 | Medicare Advantage Surge and 2027 Pullback |
- Where was Humana founded?
- Humana was founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1961.
- Who founded Humana?
- Humana was founded by Wendell Cherry and David A. Jones Sr.
- When did Humana start?
- Humana was founded in 1961.
- How old is Humana?
- Humana is 65 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Humana began in 1961 when Louisville lawyers David A. Jones Sr. and Wendell Cherry opened a nursing home called Heritage House. The business grew into Extendicare, which became the largest U.S. nursing home chain and went public in 1968. In the early 1970s the founders sold the nursing homes to focus on hospitals, renaming the company Humana in 1974. Humana launched health plans in the 1980s, and in 1993 it spun off its hospitals as Galen Health Care, which soon merged with Columbia Hospital Corporation. That left Humana as a pure health benefits company.
Founders
Wendell Cherry
Wendell Cherry and his law-school classmate David A. Jones Sr. each put in about $1,000 to open the Heritage House nursing home in Louisville in 1961. The venture grew into Extendicare, the largest nursing home chain in the U.S., and went public in 1968. Cherry helped lead the early-1970s move out of nursing homes and into hospitals, and the company was renamed Humana in 1974. He served as president until his death in 1991, shortly before Humana separated its hospitals from its health plan business. Education: University of Kentucky College of Law. Wendell Cherry was born in 1935.
David A. Jones Sr.
David A. Jones Sr. led Humana through each of its major pivots: from nursing homes (Extendicare) to hospitals in the 1970s, into health plans in the 1980s, and to a pure health benefits company after the 1993 spin-off of its hospitals as Galen Health Care. He stepped down as CEO in 1997 and remained a major Louisville philanthropist until his death in 2019. David A. Jones Sr. was born in 1931.
Key Milestones
Heritage House Opens
Lawyers David A. Jones Sr. and Wendell Cherry opened a nursing home in Louisville, the start of the company that became Humana.
Source: sec.govExtendicare IPO
The nursing home company, then called Extendicare, went public and became the largest U.S. nursing home chain.
Source: sec.govRenamed Humana
After shifting from nursing homes to hospitals, the company adopted the Humana name.
Source: sec.govHospitals Spun Off
Humana spun off its hospitals as Galen Health Care, leaving a pure health benefits company.
Source: sec.govConcentra Acquired
Humana bought the clinic operator Concentra in December 2010 for about $790 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquired Arcadian Management Services
Humana acquired Arcadian Management Services. Humana acquired Arcadian, a Medicare Advantage plan operator, to add membership in several states.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAetna Merger Agreement
Aetna agreed in July 2015 to buy Humana for about $37 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAetna Merger Blocked
A federal judge blocked Aetna's roughly $37 billion acquisition of Humana; Aetna paid Humana a $1 billion breakup fee.
Source: sec.govFull Ownership of Kindred at Home
Humana bought the 60% of Kindred at Home it did not already own, later rebranding the home health business under CenterWell.
Source: sec.govJim Rechtin Becomes CEO
Jim Rechtin, who joined as President and COO in January 2024, succeeded Bruce Broussard as CEO in July 2024.
Source: sec.gov$129.7B FY2025 Revenue
Humana reported $129.66B in revenue and $1.19B in net income, and completed its exit from employer-group commercial medical coverage.
Source: sec.govMedicare Advantage Surge and 2027 Pullback
Humana added more than 1 million MA members for 2026, reported Q2 revenue of $40.89B, and said it will exit plans covering about 600,000 members for 2027.
Source: businesswire.comMajor Acquisitions
Kindred at Home
2021Humana first bought a 40% stake in Kindred at Home in 2018 alongside TPG and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, then acquired the remaining 60% in 2021 for about $5.7 billion to own a large home health provider.
Arcadian Management Services
2012Humana acquired Arcadian, a Medicare Advantage plan operator, to add membership in several states.
Concentra
2010Humana bought Concentra, an operator of occupational-health and urgent-care clinics, in 2010 to add care delivery to its insurance business.
Keep researching Humana
Humana Company History FAQ
What are the historic eras in the evolutionary history of Humana from 1961 to today?
Humana's 60+ year history spans four distinct eras: Extendicare Nursing Home Chain (1961 to 1972), World's Largest Acute-Care Hospital System (1972 to 1993), Nationwide Managed Health Insurer (1993 to 2018), and Integrated Value-Based Payer-Provider System (2018, present).
How did the spin-off of Galen Health Care in 1993 reshape Humana?
In 1993, Humana completed the historic spin-off of its 76 hospitals into a separate publicly traded company called Galen Health Care (which quickly merged with Columbia/HCA). This enabled Humana to eliminate internal conflicts of interest and focus entirely on health insurance innovation.
How did the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 transform Humana's business trajectory?
The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act established Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. Humana aggressively seized this opportunity, partnering with Walmart to offer low-cost Part D plans and becoming an early leader in Medicare Advantage.
What was the outcome of the Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against the Aetna-Humana merger in 2017?
In January 2017, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that Aetna's proposed $37 billion takeover of Humana violated antitrust laws by substantially lessening competition in Medicare Advantage markets across 364 counties, terminating the merger.
When and why was the CenterWell brand officially introduced by Humana?
In 2021, Humana introduced the CenterWell brand to unify its expanding healthcare service divisions (senior primary care, home health, and pharmacy) under a single, patient-friendly consumer identity distinct from its insurance products.
How did Humana support public health during the COVID-19 pandemic?
During COVID-19, Humana waived member copays for COVID testing and treatment, delivered over 1 million meals to food-insecure seniors, expanded telehealth visits by thousands of percent, and deployed in-home mobile vaccination teams for homebound seniors.
Why did Humana decide to fully exit the commercial employer group market in 2023 to 2024?
Following a comprehensive strategic review, Humana concluded that employer commercial group plans represented a small, low-margin fraction of its business, and that 100% of corporate capital should be concentrated on senior Medicare Advantage and CenterWell care delivery.
What is Humana's vision for the future of senior healthcare delivery in America?
Humana envisions a compassionate, fully integrated healthcare ecosystem where predictive analytics, proactive home-based nursing, and value-based primary care empower seniors to live healthier, independent, and fulfilling lives in their own homes.
How did Humana start?
Humana was founded in 1961 by two lawyers, David A. Jones and Wendell Cherry, in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally, it was not an insurance company; they started by investing $1,000 to buy a nursing home ("Extendicare"). They rapidly expanded into owning dozens of hospitals before executing a massive strategic pivot in the 1980s, selling the hospitals to become a pure managed-care health insurance company.
Related Strategic History
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