Payment rates for at-home care providers have been a major theme of the past week, with the arrival of a final Medicare Advantage (MA) rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and Medicaid remaining in the crosshairs of federal budget action. We also tackled building margin and financial resilience in our latest […]
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Home health agencies (HHAs) owned by private equity (PE) firms tend to outperform agencies not owned by PE in certain metrics while lagging in others. That’s according to a recent study by Mohammad Ishtiaque Rahman, an assistant professor of computer information systems at Thomas More University in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. The analysis found that HHAs […]
On Nov. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final home health payment rule for 2025, updating Medicare policies and rates for home health agencies. But while the payment-related information grabbed headlines, there are plenty of other changes to home health care within the rule that providers should be paying attention […]
Research has indicated that patients needing care prefer to receive it in their homes rather than in a hospital setting. Health care models like Hospital at Home (HaH) facilitate this preference, but how do providers ensure that patients’ homes are safe for delivering these services? For this evolution to be successful, homes must adapt. They […]
Home care medicine has expanded significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, with increasing demand from patients and improved payment models – in some cases. This shift has increased the need for a larger home-based care workforce, one filled with individuals that understand the ins and outs of treating people in their homes. The number of hospital-at-home […]
The home infusion industry is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing number of aging patients wanting to remain in their homes. However, like many areas of home-based care, reimbursement isn’t keeping up with the cost of care. Driven by an emphasis on cost-effectiveness, containment and the desire for patients to remain at home while […]
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upended the Chevron doctrine precedent. For home health industry purposes, that means a potentially weakened Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) moving forward. The news comes just two days after the home health proposed payment rule was released, which included significant cuts for the third straight year. Broadly, […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed home health payment rule, released Wednesday, included significant cuts for the third straight year. Those cuts, among other proposed changes, raise questions over the stability of the industry in the coming years. It has providers asking themselves and others the question: “Why us?” For an industry […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its FY 2025 home health proposed payment rule Wednesday. With it, the agency signaled that more significant cuts could be on the way for providers. To rebalance the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and make it budget neutral, at least according to its internal methodology, CMS […]
Home health providers want better rates and arrangements from Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The plans, on the other hand, sometimes still can’t figure out what they want from providers. Some of the largest home health companies have begun to make headway with MA plans. “I think the payers are recognizing that this is not a […]