CMS Home Health Admission-To-Service Policy Misses The Heart Of Providers’ Capacity Issues

With the 2025 home health final payment rule came the admission-to-service policy — an update to the Medicare Conditions of Participation. In many ways, experts consider it a formalization of measures home health providers are already taking. Broadly, the policy has two parts. The first part requires home health providers to develop, implement and maintain […]

[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 […]

Private, Public Sectors Both Needed To Solve Home Care Access Crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris proposed a Medicare home care benefit earlier this month. Some found the proposal innovative and exciting, others found it unrealistic and potentially costly. Many in between found it well intentioned, but wanted to hear further details. But more broadly, Harris’ proposal evoked an interesting conversation, at least in my mind. Who […]

How Home Care Agencies ‘Broaden Their Impact’ By Partnering With Community Health Workers

Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline public health employees who come from or have deep roots in the communities they serve. Many home-based care agencies leverage CHWs to build trusting client relationships and supplement workforce gaps. While a caregiver is responsible for helping a client in their home with personal care and activities of daily […]

What Home Care Leaders Think Of Kamala Harris’ Medicare Home Care Proposal

With the “sandwich generation” top of mind, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris unveiled plans for a new Medicare home-based care proposal earlier this month. The proposal would include non-medical home care services under the Medicare umbrella, aiding seniors in need of activities of daily living support. The policy – if enacted – would […]

How Home-Based Care Providers Hurdle Tricky Payment Issues

Whether it’s Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage (MA) or private pay, home care and home health leaders are both navigating tricky payer environments in their respective sectors. MA penetration continues, as do cuts to traditional Medicare payments in home health care. In home care, billing rates have recently risen on the private-pay side, while Medicaid payment […]

With The Election Nearing, Candidates Battle Over Home-Based Care

Less than a month before election day, the Democratic and Republican candidates for president are dueling over home-based care plans. Vice President Kamala Harris announced on “The View” this week a proposal that would allow home care to be administered through traditional Medicare. On the same day, former President Donald Trump and his campaign released […]

[Updated] Vice President Kamala Harris Proposes Medicare Home Care Benefit

During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new Medicare home-based care proposal. The proposal focuses on helping the “sandwich generation,” or adults who are caring for their aging parents while also raising children. “There are so many people in our country who are right in the middle,” Harris […]

‘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 […]

CMS Report Shows Hospital-At-Home Care Increases Recovery, While Decreasing Costs And Readmissions

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a report on a study of its Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) program. This program permits specific Medicare-certified hospitals to provide inpatient-level care to patients in their homes. The report outlines the study’s results and discusses potential future considerations and limitations. The report […]