MA-Home Care Referrals Skyrocketing, healthAlign Data Reveals

The convener platform healthAlign has a front-row seat to see how home care is being utilized in Medicare Advantage (MA). Andy Friedell, the company’s founder and CEO, has always been bullish on home care’s growing prevalence in MA, even when providers began to shy away from it a bit after initial excitement over supplemental-benefit updates […]

Exploring Home Health Care’s ‘Convener Problem’

When it comes to payment, there are generally two issues that are drawing the ire of home health providers of late: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule for CY 2023 and subpar Medicare Advantage (MA) rates.  A third one has been added to that list: the role of conveners. As with […]

Evaluating Home Care’s Progress in Medicare Advantage

Many of the in-home supplemental benefits offered by Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are new. But whether they are through the primarily health-related pathway, which began in 2019, or through Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI), which came a year later, these benefits are still being experimented with. Generally, the plans offering these new […]

Why In-Home Care Providers Shouldn’t Scrap MA Strategies Over Lagging Results

Medicare Advantage (MA) has been viewed over the last few years as a new space for home-based care providers to generate revenue. Changes have allowed MA plans to pay for additional at-home services, whether through primarily health-related benefits or Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI). Those changes aren’t major on the surface, and […]

With Demand for Home Care Rising, The Helper Bees Launches ‘Aging-in-Place Provider Marketplace’

The Helper Bees (THB) announced Wednesday the launch of its aging-in-place provider marketplace. Austin, Texas-based THB is a full-service insurtech company that works to create innovative aging-in-place solutions for both payers and consumers. THB’s new marketplace — the next evolution of its “Care Concierge” program — is designed to give individuals in need of home […]

Hoping to Create an In-Home Care Convener Powerhouse, The Helper Bees Acquires healthAlign

The Helper Bees (THB), an “insurtech” company that works with payers and home-based care providers, has acquired healthAlign, a similarly positioned convener also focused on the home. It’s a move that reflects the larger shift of health care services into the home, a trend that provides an opportunity for organizations like THB and healthAlign to […]

How Home-Focused Conveners Bridge the Gap Between Payers, Providers

The home is increasingly becoming the No. 1 site of care for seniors, partly thanks to the services of both home health and home care providers. But as the post-acute care world transitions away from fee for services toward value-based care, in-home care operators often find themselves in need of support. And that’s where the […]