CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) laid out its plan to adapt to the changing needs of Americans that are 65 years old and above on Thursday.
One of the pillars of that plan is a comprehensive home-based care strategy, one that will be bolstered by its recent $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health.
“We’re envisioning a new landscape for the delivery of health care,” Jamie Sharp, VP and Medicare chief medical officer at Aetna, said. “We’re focused on creating that continuum of touchpoints with those 65 and older.”
Aetna – one of the largest insurers in the country – is a part of the CVS Health network.
Four of out of five seniors 65 and up would prefer to receive care in their homes versus a medical facility, according to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll and CVS Health. Therefore, CVS Health is focused on “improving home-based care.”
“Pandemic concerns about infection in hospitals and long-term care facilities have strengthened this desire,” the CVS post read. “The good news is that avenues for this kind of care have grown significantly, and more Medicare Advantage plans are offering supplemental, in-home services.”
Indeed, in-home support service offerings in Medicare Advantage (MA) have skyrocketed over the past few years.
In-home support services are available in 1,091 MA plans in 2023, which accounts for almost one in every five plans. That number was up 13% from 2022, according to ATI Advisory.
In addition to those offerings, plans are also utilizing these benefits – which beneficiaries like – to grow membership. They are also finding ways to increase the offerings, whether through upping the number of home care hours allowed or giving beneficiaries a benefit wallet to spend as they wish.
CVS Health is also launching another home-based care program in spring of 2023, the company said.
“The program will assign a nurse caregiver to the home and will provide other necessary resources,” the post read. “That might mean aiding patients by reconciling medications with their primary care provider, ensuring that the home is age-friendly, offering home visits or even helping arrange food and transportation services.”
The post also added that patients discharged to home health were 60% less likely to be readmitted within 30 days of discharge, citing a study from the American Journal of Managed Care.
Even beyond Aetna’s in-home support services or the acquisition of Signify Health, CVS has been working on elevating home-based care in its network for years.
“We talked a lot through this journey about home health,” CVS Health CFO Shawn Guertin said after the Signify deal was first announced. “And the value-based care capabilities that this brings us is where a lot of the power is, I think, for the long haul.”
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