‘We Will Be Paying For This For Years’: 8 Home Health C-Suite Leaders Sound Off On ‘Alarming’ Medicare Cuts

At the end of last month, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its home health proposed payment rule for 2024. The proposal, almost immediately, drew a negative response from key home health stakeholders. The main headline was CMS’ decision to propose a home health payment decrease of 2.2%. The proposal also […]

What Comes Next: Exploring Optum’s Decisive Play For Amedisys

UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum snatched Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) away from Option Care Health (Nasdaq: OPCH) at the end of June. If the $3.3 billion acquisition is finalized, Optum will own about 10% of the home health care market. It would represent a seismic shift for a traditionally mom-and-pop industry. It would represent consolidation, […]

A ‘Ticking Backwards Clock’: What Home Health Providers Are Realizing About The Rush Toward Risk

Home-based care insiders are looking on as outsiders come in and sweep up top assets within their industry. There’s the payers, like UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and Humana (NYSE: HUM), that are doing so. Then there’s the retailers, such as CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) Amazon (Nasdaq: […]

Transactions: HouseWorks Acquires Care and Help Home Care; Pennant Bolsters Colorado Home Health Footprint

HouseWorks acquires Care and Help Home Care, Amedisys’ personal care division The Massachusetts-based HouseWorks is expanding its footprint in Pennsylvania by acquiring Care and Help Home Care. Care and Help Home Care is a privately-owned personal care provider serving the greater Philadelphia area. “We are excited to welcome the Care and Help team to the […]

Home Health Referral Rejection Rate Continues To Climb

This past winter didn’t have the COVID-19 surge that the previous one did. And yet, the referral rejection rate reached an all-time high in home health care – all the way up to 76%. All the while, patients being referred to home health have a higher acuity level on average. Nursing home referrals are also […]

Humana, Elara Caring, Frontpoint Health Share Best Practices For MA-Home Health Relationships

The nature of home health provider-Medicare Advantage (MA) plan relationships has slowly begun to change, as some organizations have found ways to successfully work together and derive value from these collaborations more effectively. One factor that is changing the nature of payer and provider relationships is that there’s no denying that MA enrollment is on […]