For years now, the U.S. health care system has steadily moved away from a fee-for-service environment toward value-based care. Medicare Advantage (MA) growth reflects this shift, particularly when it comes to the wide spectrum of home-based care. Currently, the average home health agency gets about 55% of its funding from fee-for-service Medicare, Medicare Payment Advisory […]
Category: Medicare Advantage
Aetna is taking another step toward the home. The managed health care company announced Tuesday that it is forming a new partnership with Landmark Health in New York to bring physician-led services into the homes of Aetna’s Medicare Advantage members. The partnership further highlights a growing desire for more in-home medical and primary care, among […]
Humana’s (NYSE: HUM) long-standing home- and community-based focus served the insurer well in Q2 2020 — a quarter dominated by the COVID-19 emergency. The coronavirus pushed more senior care into the home, boosting business for Louisville, Kentucky-based health insurance giant. As a result, the insurer doubled down on home-based care initiatives in Q2 2020 and […]
Home health admissions saw a slight decline in volume during the fourth quarter of 2019. Meanwhile, referral trends appear to be holding steady. That’s according to recent data from PlayMaker Health, a post-acute growth platform that serves hundreds of organizations across the country. Specifically, Q4 saw a 2.45% decline in home health admissions, nationally. The […]
While the Medicare Advantage (MA) home care opportunity continues to expand, cynics have been quick to criticize it. Some say the opportunity is too small to be worthwhile — and that it’s more of a trendy talking point than a viable business option for most home care providers. In 2020, only 619 of more than […]
Securing stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE), doubling down on company-wide training efforts and implementing educational initiatives are just some of the responsibilities that home care leadership teams have taken on during the COVID-19 crisis. While most home care agencies were navigating the public health emergency over the past few months, Synergy HomeCare’s CEO had […]
The coronavirus could be the match that finally sparks the Medicare Advantage (MA) boom for home care. The explosion has been a long time coming. It all started when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) first expanded the scope of MA supplemental benefits in April 2018. The move opened the door for MA […]
Just as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) was slowly becoming the new normal, home health providers were hit with the impact of the COVID-19 emergency. Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) has weathered both storms. Now, it has its sights set on gaining market share from skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and pursuing Medicare Advantage opportunities — but […]
The home care industry has historically been built on nonmedical services and a private-pay revenue structure. It has also long been underappreciated by the health care sector at large. But all of that’s changing. Nonmedical home care providers have proven their worth and range amid the COVID-19 crisis, keeping high-acuity seniors safe at home while […]
Many home care providers jumped at the chance to create new Medicare Advantage (MA) business lines after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began making supplemental benefits more flexible more than two years ago. Now, those same providers that got into MA early are beginning to better understand the space while hunting […]