13% of Medicare Beneficiaries Have Trouble Paying At-Home Care Bills

The cost of in-home care is rising faster than any other long-term care setting, according to recent data from insurance firm Genworth Financial. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be all too surprising that a sizeable portion of Medicare beneficiaries have a serious problem paying home care bills. In a national survey of more than […]

Home Care Driving Medicare Advantage Plan Growth

With 2020 just a few months away, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are popping up left and right. Home care benefits continue to be a driving force behind the growth. In the past week alone, the 2020 market gained at least two new MA plans. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine and MaineHealth announced […]

Senior Housing Will Be Too Pricey for 54% of Mid-Income Older Adults by 2029

By 2029, nearly 8 million middle-income older Americans won’t be able to afford senior housing at today’s average market rates, new research shows. While the statistics have negative implications for the senior housing industry, they create opportunities for home-based care providers, whose services are often the least expensive option for seniors. The findings come from […]

Why Upskilling Caregivers Can Improve Patient Care, Retention

As the demand for home-based care services continues to soar, so does the industry’s shortage of workers, with as many as 7.8 million caregiving positions projected to sit unfilled by 2026. The multimillion-dollar question for agencies remains how to survive the staffing crisis, which industry leaders have identified as the No. 1 challenge within home-based […]

Home Health Spending Rate Projected to Surpass All Other Care Categories

Roughly $108.8 billion is projected to be spent on home health care in the United States in 2019, according to a newly released analysis from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary. U.S. expenditures on home health care are projected to hit $186.8 billion by 2027. An aging population, a […]

Telemonitoring May Cut Costs, Not Hospital Admits, for Heart Patients

Telemonitoring has long been touted as a way to reduce hospitalizations. But when paired with home health care for heart failure patients, that may not always be the case. Still, there are reasons — from both a cost and outcomes perspective — for home health providers to consider implementing telemonitoring for this patient group. That’s […]

Palliative Care Has Grown Without Being a Cash Cow for Providers

Interest in palliative care programs has boomed over the last 15 years, but the adoption of this type of care has taken place largely in hospitals, according to a recent report in Health Affairs. But with palliative care now much more common, further growth could accelerate in home- and community-based settings. Palliative care—which focuses on providing […]

Home Care Could Help Target Preventable Health Care Use

Partnerships with providers of social services could be an avenue for reducing preventable health care use in older adults, and in-home care providers can play a role. With social determinants of health and population health becoming more prominent in health care, cross-sectoral partnerships with Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) could give home care and home health agencies […]