Home Care Providers Are Getting Creative To Reach MA Beneficiaries

Medicare Advantage (MA) only became a real opportunity for home care providers five years ago. That is when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced primarily health-related benefits, allowing for agencies to step in and provide personal care for beneficiaries on a limited basis. Since then, MA plans have continued to expand these […]

4 Big Questions For Home Health, Home Care In 2023

Home health and home care operators grappled with numerous challenges in 2022 that impacted their businesses, from COVID-19 cases spiking due to the Omicron variant in the first quarter to labor pressures persisting throughout the year. For many providers, those headwinds turned their attention to maintaining growth, fine-tuning existing operations and avoiding loss, with service-line […]

Informal Caregiver Hours On The Rise, Highlighting Need For Home Care, Respite Services

More individuals are having to take on what’s known as the second or third shift — caregiving duties in addition to being employed. At the same time, there has been an increase in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans offering home-based care, including respite services, coinciding with this rise of informal caregivers. For context, informal caregivers are […]

A Further Breakdown Of Home-Based Care Services In Medicare Advantage For 2023

Ahead of the annual enrollment period Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations have been offering a peek into what benefits they’re offering seniors in 2023. Notably, many will give their beneficiaries access to home-based care services. Now, ATI Advisory is sharing exactly how many have made these services available to seniors. The number plans offering in-home support […]

1,091 MA Plans To Offer In-Home Support Services In 2023, A Significant Increase

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are now allowed to tout the benefits they will be offering their members in 2023. Home-based care providers should be “delighted” at what the preliminary data shows. That’s according to Tyler Cromer, a principal at the Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy organization ATI Advisory. Specifically, in-home support services (IHSS) will be […]

Payment ‘Patchwork’ Limiting Near-Term Scalability of Home-Based Palliative Care

Home-based palliative care is an untapped business opportunity for many home health and hospice providers in the U.S., but multiple factors continue to hinder near-term scalability. Data on the availability of home-based palliative care is limited, so it’s difficult to pinpoint just how large the market really is. Experts familiar with the space have previously […]

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 […]

Over 4 Million MA Beneficiaries Have At-Home Care Access Through Supplemental Benefits

New data relating to Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) has been released. And while there are plenty of kinks to work through before these benefits become a significant revenue driver for home-based care agencies, their increasing popularity is undoubtedly encouraging. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a pathway for […]