Recruiting in a Crisis: Why Home Care Agencies Are Overhauling Their Onboarding Programs

Over the years, training and “upskilling” in-home care workers has been a key strategy to improve retention for providers struggling with turnover. But as the COVID-19 public health emergency continues, providers who are actively recruiting will now have to navigate new obstacles when preparing recently hired caregivers to work in the home setting. Since mid-March, […]

‘Rare Flexibility’ for Medicare Advantage Plans Could Lead to Home Care Inflection Point

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted further flexibility to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to offer more benefits to beneficiaries during the COVID-19 crisis. For home care providers, that could mean more business opportunity. The Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) program was announced in 2019 for the 2020 plan […]

Senior Living Facilities Enlist Home-Based Care Providers Amid COVID-19 Staffing Battle

Many senior living and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) continue to struggle with the COVID-19 virus, as their residents are often vulnerable older adults who live in fairly close proximity. In some cases, coronavirus concerns have prompted such congregate living facilities to turn away outside caregivers and home health aides; in others, the struggle has led […]

Home Care Agencies Seek Exemption Status in Potentially Devastating COVID-19 Relief Law

Home care providers waiting to see how they’ll be affected by new federally mandated paid sick leave policies tied to the COVID-19 emergency will likely have to wait a little longer. On Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law, which — broadly — gives workers guaranteed paid […]

Alignment Healthcare Raises $135M; FirstLight Expands Internationally

Alignment lands $135 million in Series C Medicare Advantage (MA) startup Alignment Healthcare has deepened its pockets. The Orange, California-based MA player announced March 4 that it has raised $135 million in Series C funding, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company. Additional funding came from funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates […]

How FirstLight Turned Employee-Assistance Programs into a Major Revenue Driver

FirstLight Home Care’s 2019 success was a catalyst for lofty 2020 aspirations. One of the major drivers of last year’s prosperity was employee-assistance programs (EAPs). EAPs are specially designed employee benefit packages offered by certain employers. Over the past few years, they’ve more frequently included caregiver benefits, prompting home-based care agencies to take notice. Some […]

FirstLight CEO Charts Course Toward Telehealth Expansion, Medicare Advantage Contracting

FirstLight Home Care recorded another year of strong growth in 2019, thanks partly to an uptick in national accounts and its work with employee-assistance programs (EAPs). The Cincinnati-based in-home care franchise company plans to double down on those areas in 2020, while also making progress on its Medicare Advantage (MA) efforts and FirstLight Health Solutions […]