[Updated] CMS Finalizes 0.5% Home Health Payment Increase For 2025, More Permanent Cuts

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its CY 2025 home health final payment rule Friday. It comes with an estimated aggregate increase to 2025 home health payments of 0.5%, or $85 million, compared to 2024 aggregate payments. But another permanent cut will be implemented in the new year. “CMS estimates that […]

Medicare Advantage In-Home Health Assessments Continue To Raise Questions 

Medicare Advantage (MA) companies receive higher risk-adjusted payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for sicker enrollees. This helps ensure that plans receive sufficient payments to cover increased care costs and that enrollees have access to plans. However, a new report states that taxpayers are footing the bill for billions of dollars […]

While Home Care Is Touted As A Panacea, Rates And Regulations Hold Providers Back

The U.S. health care system is banking on home- and community-based services (HCBS) to help keep seniors and individuals with disabilities at home and away from more costly brick-and-mortar facilities. But for now, incongruent rates mean disparate access to those services state by state. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicaid […]

‘A Deteriorating Industry’: What Home Health Provider Margins Actually Look Like

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) paints a rosy portrait of home health margins. But an analysis of cost reporting data – that considers both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA) payments – shows that providers are generally not sitting atop a hill of money. Instead, they are struggling to stay above water. Kalon Mitchell […]

As CMS Cuts Payments, Home Health Patients Are Seeing Reduced Access To Care

Patients are receiving less access to Medicare-certified home health care in recent years, according to a new data analysis. The data analysis – which comes from the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) and CareJourney by Arcadia – examines Medicare home health fee-for-service claims from 2022 through 2023, in order to determine access to care, […]

Amedisys’ Contessa Health To Become A GUIDE Model Participant 

Contessa Health, a subsidiary of Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), has been selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in its Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model. The model aims to create more comprehensive and coordinated dementia care. The company joins nearly 400 participants in developing nationwide dementia care programs […]

How Home Health Providers Can Prepare For HHVBP In 2025

The third year of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model expansion comes with changes. Some measures will be retired, and some new ones will be added. Home health providers looking to achieve HHVBP success will need to prepare for this updated version of the model. “You need to be thinking about how you’re doing […]

How Home-Based Care Providers Are Approaching The GUIDE Model

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model on July 1, which aims to create more comprehensive, coordinated dementia care. Some home-based care providers have been named participants in the program, and many more plan to get involved. CMS hopes the GUIDE Model will improve the […]