Think Tank Ranks Top Cities for Aging in Place

With many people in the aging population focused on the best way to age in place, think tank Miliken Institute released in July a list of the top-10 best cities for this to happen, for both 65-plus and 80-plus populations. While in the past, older people flocked to warmer climates such as Florida and Arizona, […]

Home Health Agencies Helping Seniors to “Bring the Vote Home”

An initiative to help home-bound seniors take part in this year’s elections asks home health agencies to “Bring the Vote Home,” backed by the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare and the Council of State Home Care Associations. Caregivers working for agencies in more than a dozen states may be able to reverse the trend of […]

ABC News: Caregiver Providers Present False Sense of Security

As demand for home health care increases, some home care agencies are granting employment to under-qualified individuals who often do not undergo background checks or drug testing, ABC News reported earlier this week.  A study led by Dr. Lee Lindquist, geriatrician and associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researched 160 […]

Govt. Inspector Finds 25% of Home Health Agencies Make Inappropriate Medicare Claims

A Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released today finds that one in four Home Health Agencies (HHA) participated in questionable billing activity in 2010. The report, titled Inappropriate and Questionable Billing by Medicare Home Health Agencies, breaks down the $5 million Medicare paid to HHAs for inappropriate health […]

Oregon Alzheimer’s Proposal Focuses on Mandatory Caregiver Training

A statewide taskforce in Oregon unveiled a proposal on Monday focusing on how to handle the growing population of those who suffer from memory impairments, including a requirement for all caregivers to get training about dementia and a recommendation to develop appropriate community-based settings of care. Alzheimer’s disease is becoming more prevalent as the U.S. […]

Drop in Home Health Income Drags Gentiva’s Revenues Down 5% in Q2

Home healthcare and hospice provider Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIV) saw its net revenues drop 5% to $427.7 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, but cost-cutting helped the company beat analysts’ estimate of $435.2 million. The decrease in revenue compared to the second quarter of 2011 was due in part to a […]

Mass. Governor Urges More Home Care, Less Hospital Use

Massachusetts’ House and Senate yesterday passed a health care cost control bill that will limit the state’s spending on healthcare to grow only has fast as the state’s overall economy, reports the Associated Press.  The bill would save $200 billion over the next 15 years for the state and would help in establishing “accountable care […]

NAHC to Medicare: Increase Long-Term In-Home Care Coverage

NAHC to Medicare: Increase Long-Term In-Home Care Coverage Medicare celebrated its 47th birthday Monday and while it seems to be getting enough attention in the political arena, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice took the program’s birthday as an opportunity to offer some suggestions to help keep the Medicare program intact and void […]