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Modivcare’s new CEO of personal care, Marsha Ramos, sees a Medicare home care benefit as a potential turning point for the personal home care industry. But even as attention around home care access grows, she said concerns about fraud, waste and abuse could threaten momentum behind the benefit.
In the short term, however, the home-based care veteran is focused on taking stock of Modivcare’s personal care business — listening to employees, assessing the division’s health and identifying opportunities to grow.
Ramos, who was on her 15th day as CEO of Modivcare’s personal care services division when she spoke with HHCN, is stepping into the role with plans to grow the business — first by maximizing its current footprint and eventually through new markets, M&A and de novo expansion.
“It’s all about finding the right growth,” Ramos told Home Health Care News. “It’s not just growth for the sake of growing.”
Denver-based Modivcare provides non-emergency medical transportation, personal care services and monitoring solutions.
In the short term, Ramos aims to spend the beginning of her tenure learning the business and its employees and assessing the personal care division’s overall health. That check-up includes reviewing metrics such as retention rates and employee engagement scores, along with a more qualitative analysis through conversations with employees.
Her short-term goals also include raising awareness of Modivcare’s clinical capabilities.
“We have very good outcomes. I want to go out to market and share those outcomes,” she said. “I don’t know if we’ve done a good job of going out there and showing our capabilities.”
Maximizing potential and improving financial health
In the longer term, Ramos has her eyes set on two priorities: growth and becoming an employer of choice through upskilling, which can lead to higher wages.
The company currently offers personal care services in seven states. Ramos aims to expand its geography through both M&A and de novo growth. But before expanding beyond its current footprint, she plans to take a market-by-market approach, analyzing each local market for growth potential.
Ramos also aims to grow within the segment’s existing footprint. Over the next 12 to 18 months, she said, the focus will be on maximizing current business and relationships. Only after that will the company begin looking for opportunities beyond the segment’s current landscape.
To grow within the segment’s current book of business, Ramos plans to leverage technology, including tools for scheduling, referral management and customer service, to enable Modivcare to accept every referral and maximize the company’s capabilities.
“There’s a lot we can do that would allow us to maximize the current workforce [and] utilize technology to solve some of those redundant problems,” she said. “Within that, you’ll see an increase in hours, you’ll see an increase in staffing and you’ll see improvements in scheduling. And that’s usually a good place to start.”
Strategies to grow the business and maximize its current capabilities will also help the company’s financial stability, Ramos said.
Modivcare filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2025. The company won court approval of its Chapter 11 reorganization plan four months later.
Now, Ramos is working to maximize its current book of business and develop new programs that can support its financial health.
“If we can get ourselves organized and … maximize our current opportunity, I think we have enough there to stabilize ourselves,” Ramos said.
Medicare optimism and fraud concerns
As Modivcare plans for growth and development, payer constraints could pose a hurdle.
“We have an aging population, and we don’t have enough payers willing to pay for this service. Maybe due to a lack of understanding,” Ramos said. “We are the lifeline to a lot of people, and I don’t know if that story is loud enough.”
The change that would most improve the current state of play for reimbursement, Ramos said, is the addition of a personal home care benefit to Medicare.
In August, lawmakers introduced the Medicare At Home Act, which would add a home care benefit to Medicare Part B. Ramos said she was more optimistic than ever before about the potential for a Medicare home care benefit because of the increased attention on the issue of home care access. Still, bad actors in the industry could endanger the momentum behind personal home care, she said.
“Everybody’s nervous about this particular market,” Ramos said. “You hear a ton about fraud, waste and abuse. I think that, because of some bad players, we’re all very sensitive to what’s happening and concerns about it.”
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