The Key Problems with Medicare’s Home Health Benefit

Home-based care services are a crucial element of medical care. Despite this fact, issues surrounding accessibility have hindered the Medicare home health benefit’s ability to be effective, a new report published in Health Affairs Thursday suggests. The report was authored by Henry J. Kaiser’s President Barbara Lyons, as well as Diane Rowland, the former executive […]

MedPAC Lays Out Plan to Streamline Medicare Alternative Payment Models

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is, once again, calling for federal policymakers to streamline alternative payment models within the Medicare program. Released late Wednesday, MedPAC’s June report details how that could theoretically be done. The focus on alternative payment models should come as no surprise for those who have been watching closely. In June […]

A ‘Persistence of Patient Harm’: Hospital Failures Highlight Need for Home-Based Care Investments

The traditional brick-and-mortar hospital system is broken, often leaving patients in a condition that’s worse than when they first arrived. That’s according to a May report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The findings throw further support for facility-based care alternatives, including the types of hospital-at-home models […]

‘Medicare Advantage on Steroids’: Advocates Push Back on ACO REACH Model

Home health care providers and Medicare-for-all advocates certainly agree on their general disliking of Medicare Advantage (MA). The one problem is that these advocates are also fervently against direct contracting in traditional Medicare. And that is an area where many home-based care providers believed they could enter into new, value-based care arrangements either with the […]

Accountable Care Organizations Are Diving Head First Into Home-Based Care

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have considerably increased their home-based care arsenals over recent years. They’ve also diversified the types of home-based care they offer, and are finally finding ways for it to make economic sense in capitated models. That’s according to the Institute for Accountable Care (IAC), which conducted a wide-ranging study on ACOs and […]

Bipartisan Policy Center Makes Recommendations to CMS Aimed at Increasing Home Health Access

Despite the growing demand for home health services, fraud and abuse guardrails often limit access to the Medicare benefit, a recent Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) report suggests. The report highlights BPC’s recommendations for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how to improve home health services for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. “Given the […]

Home Care Providers Take Note as Medicare Advantage Grows, Creates Savings for Seniors

Compared to fee-for-service Medicare, seniors save close to $2,000 on average in total annual health care spending with Medicare Advantage (MA). That’s according to a new study — based on 2019 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data — from Better Medicare Alliance. The study features an analysis conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based research and consulting firm […]