Papa Exploring Medicaid, Employee Benefit Opportunities Following $10M Funding Round

Grandkids-on-demand startup Papa has raised $10 million in Series A funding, pushing the Miami-based company’s total funding raised above $13 million. The recent investment round was led by Silicon Valley-area venture capital firm Canaan, with money also coming in from Sound Ventures, Y Combinator and Pivotal Ventures, a firm created by Melinda Gates. Past big-name […]

Money, Data and Backup Plans: Why In-Home Medicare Advantage Benefits Are Rolling Out Slowly

Despite Medicare Advantage (MA) plans being recently allowed to cover a wide variety of in-home services and supports, insurers have been slow to roll out new supplemental benefits. In 2019, only 3% of Medicare Advantage plans offered in-home care services, according to AARP. Some think the tides will turn in 2020 — but even then, […]

Meals on Wheels Turns to Home Care to Help Win Medicare Advantage Partners

Sometimes a name doesn’t tell the full story. That’s the case for Arlington, Virginia-based Meals on Wheels, a meal-delivery service that does more than its name suggests. “In addition to a whole array of nutrition services, [Meals on Wheels] programs are doing in-home assessments,” Lucy Theilheimer, chief strategy and impact officer at Meals on Wheels, […]

HHS Secretary: ‘We Want to Go Further’ with Medicare Advantage In-Home Benefits

Medicare Advantage plans could get even more flexibility to address social determinants of health for beneficiaries if Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has his way. In turn, that could mean even more opportunities for home care providers to offer and be reimbursed for services such as companion care, bathing, transportation and more. “Our […]

Aetna Working with CareLinx to Provide In-Home Services to Members

So far, health plans have been relatively tight-lipped about their strategies for offering in-home services and supports to members under expanded Medicare Advantage (MA) policies. They now appear to be finding their voice. On Wednesday, Aetna Medicare publicly announced for the first time it has teamed up with CareLinx and its nationwide network of more […]

VNA Health Group Pushing Home-Based Primary, Palliative Care with $2.5M Grant

One of the largest home care and community health organizations in the country has landed additional financial support to continue building out its home-based primary care and palliative medicine offerings. Holmdel, New Jersey-based Visiting Nurse Association Health Group announced in January that it had been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Parker Foundation to […]

Aetna, Apple Roll Out New App to Track, Reward Healthy Behavior

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Aetna — a CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) company — are joining forces on a new app. It uses the Apple Watch to help Aetna members hit their well-being goals and avoid negative health outcomes. The app — christened “Attain” — is yet another example of an insurer pursuing a creative […]

Apple Reportedly Talking Smart Watch, Senior Care with MA Plans

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is reportedly in talks with multiple private Medicare plans about its smart watch product and the role it can play in preventing negative health outcomes for older adults. Cupertino, California-based Apple released its redesigned and re-engineered Apple Watch toward the end of 2018. Among its features, the smart device boasts a […]

Aetna, Heal Bring Doctor House Calls to Atlanta Market

Technology startup Heal is teaming up with insurance giant Aetna — now a CVS Health Corporation (NYSE: CVS) company — to bring doctor house calls to one of the United States’ largest markets. Already available throughout California, parts of Virginia and Washington, D.C., Los Angeles-based Heal announced Tuesday that it is expanding to the Atlanta […]

Home Health Care Likely to See Booming Investment Interest in 2019

Home health care is projected to be one of the hottest health care sectors for growth and investment in 2019. That’s according to an investment outlook survey from professional services firm KPMG and health care intelligence business Leavitt Partners. As part of the survey, researchers polled 175 healthcare CFOs, investment bankers and private equity executives […]