FirstLight Home Care recorded another year of strong growth in 2019, thanks partly to an uptick in national accounts and its work with employee-assistance programs (EAPs). The Cincinnati-based in-home care franchise company plans to double down on those areas in 2020, while also making progress on its Medicare Advantage (MA) efforts and FirstLight Health Solutions […]
Grandkids-on-demand startup Papa Inc. announced last week that it has paired with Priority Health to begin offering services to the Michigan health plan’s Medicare Advantage members. The move — along with a rework of Papa’s brand — are good indications of the ambitions that the company has in 2020. Only two years old, Papa is […]
It’s safe to say that 2019 was a banner year for Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED). The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company doubled down on hospice — announcing a number of deals. On the personal care side, Amedisys entered into and saw success in an innovative partnership with ClearCare Inc. Over the past few years, Amedisys has […]
In November, the Better Medicare Alliance and actuarial consulting firm Milliman dropped their latest report detailing how Medicare Advantage (MA) plans were acting on the expanded supplemental benefits rules federal policymakers established over the past couple of years. Home care executives devoured the report, but came away feeling somewhat discouraged by an apparent lack of […]
Once considered an afterthought, non-medical, in-home care took on newfound importance in 2019. Many home care CEOs predict that momentum will continue in 2020, especially as risk-based arrangements among providers become more common. Medicare Advantage and outcomes-related health data are also positioned to play leading roles in home care next year, industry leaders believe. The […]
While the home care industry wasn’t encumbered by a major regulatory overhaul, such as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), several themes and key topics emerged in a way that defined 2019. Federal policymakers expanding home care coverage under Medicare Advantage (MA), for example, made waves throughout the year. Additionally, the ongoing caregiver shortage remained top […]
Despite a rise in the number of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees over the past several years, the percentage of MA plans offering supplemental benefits, including home care services, is on its way down. That’s according to a recent study conducted by Duke University’s Margolis Center for Policy Health. Overall, there were 22 million Medicare beneficiaries […]
No shockers here: The Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) was the big story in 2019. The most widely read Home Health Care News story from the past year was a PDGM-focused conversation between the leaders of Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) and Encompass Health’s (NYSE: EHC) home health division. Now just days […]
Insurance giant Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and health technology company Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG) have teamed up to give Humana’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members 24/7 access to care via remote patient monitoring. The move reflects the continued adoption of remote patient monitoring and telehealth, especially when it comes to the MA landscape. “Payers are increasingly […]
Clover Health — similar to many other Medicare Advantage (MA) players — has its sights firmly set on the home. But unlike its larger and older MA peers, the relatively smaller and newer Clover isn’t held back by certain structural constraints. That ability to build a home-focused model from the ground up is a big […]