Both home health care and Medicare Advantage (MA) are currently in rough rate environments. But Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) leaders believe in the company’s ability to continue growing MA membership with solid margins, partly by leaning into CenterWell Home Health and its other provider assets. Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
Category: Medicare Advantage
It was a turbulent start to the year for the health care giant UnitedHealth Group, driven by the cyberattack on Change Healthcare and a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust investigation. Amid the DOJ investigation, UnitedHealth Group’s planned acquisition of the home health company Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) came into focus, with reports circulating that […]
With the need for long-term services and supports (LTSS) growing, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are positioned to offer home-based care services through supplemental benefits. That’s one key takeaway from a new data brief from the research and advisory firm ATI Advisory, though MA plans haven’t always been the best administrators of home care. The report […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that will result in a 3.7% positive payment adjustment for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in 2025. According to an analysis done by the private investment banking company Stephens, rates are expected to remain virtually unchanged, with a slight decrease of 0.16%. This marks the […]
At a macro level, home health organizations are struggling with Medicare Advantage (MA) for two main reasons: benefit design and reimbursement. In order to build stronger relationships with MA plans, agencies are undergoing a strategic shift in their service offerings to meet the unique challenges posed by MA patients. Those shifts include partnering with other […]
CenterWell President Dr. Sanjay Shetty knows home health care is an extremely valuable service. Unlike many other leaders, he’s in the position to prove it. For close to a year now, Shetty has led Humana’s (NYSE: HUM) health care services division, which includes CenterWell Home Health, CenterWell Primary Care and CenterWell Pharmacy. Previously, he was […]
As Medicare Advantage (MA) plans continue to gain more beneficiaries, home-based care providers find themselves at a crossroads. For some, the allure of MA lies in its potential to unlock new opportunities and expand patient reach. Yet, for others, the prospect of navigating the complexities of MA reimbursement presents a daunting challenge. MA enrollment continues […]
Grand opening, grand closing. Hospice providers began to work with Medicare Advantage (MA) via the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) demonstration in 2021. At the end of 2024, the “hospice carve-in” model will cease. This will have an impact on home health providers who offer hospice services, obviously. But the failure of hospice’s fit within VBID […]
In 2023, Medicare Advantage (MA) plan members represented more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries for the first time. In 2024, while penetration continues, there are other trends within MA that home-based care providers should be paying attention to. Seniors have more options than ever when choosing MA plans. But a few of the top […]
Earlier this week, Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) CEO Tim Wentworth teased a “strategic review” of the company’s assets, including those within the U.S. Healthcare segment. Meanwhile, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) CFO Tom Cowhey provided updates on where Aetna may go with its supplemental benefits in the near-term future. “We are now meaningfully looking at […]