In 2023, the decreasing influence of COVID-19 did not mitigate the overall operating pressures home health providers were forced to face. In the new year, there still remains plenty of opportunity, but much to work through to tap into that opportunity. More proposed rate cuts to home health reimbursement are expected from the Centers for […]
UnitedHealth Group
Home-based care is a key part of UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) mission to further engage with its members. That’s one takeaway from the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Friday. Heather Cianfrocco, president of UnitedHealth Group’s health care services arm Optum, pointed out home- and community-based services as an area that UnitedHealth Group heavily invested in 2023. […]
At the beginning of each year, publications and experts like to lay out predictions for the next 12 months. Home Health Care News also plays prognosticator. We published our 2024 home care trends piece earlier this week, and will publish our home health trends piece next week. But an equally useful exercise – for myself […]
In the first year that truly felt “post-COVID,” home-based care providers did not see a shortage of challenges. Instead, in 2023, home health providers saw another year defined by payment struggles, with both the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Home care providers, meanwhile, were still grappling with high […]
Home health providers have griped with their Medicare Advantage (MA) plan partners for years over poor rates, claim denials and increased administrative burden. Providers have stopped short of banding together to deny coverage for these plans, but some of the top companies have reallocated capacity to “preferred payers.” In the end, though, it may not […]
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) had its annual investor day Wednesday. While the event has included much about home-based care in the past, this time, home health care gained an even brighter spotlight with LHC Group President and CEO Josh Proffitt presenting. Company leaders spent the day tying home-based care to all sorts of initiatives: to […]
A class action lawsuit has been filed against UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) in Minnesota. That lawsuit pertains to two issues that home health providers have long griped over: algorithms dictating care, and conveners’ role in between payers and providers. The lawsuit follows an investigation from STAT News, which alleged that UnitedHealth Group – through naviHealth […]
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is making value-based care the centerpiece of its long-term strategy, and home-based care is a key piece of that puzzle. “[Value-based care] delivers on the promise of high-quality clinical outcomes and experiences at lower cost than traditional models,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Friday. […]
Lawmakers are hoping to direct further scrutiny toward UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) pending deal of the home health giant Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED). Specifically, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have asked antitrust regulators to take a closer look. “We urge DOJ and FTC to closely scrutinize UnitedHealth’s proposed acquisition of […]
The Optum-Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) deal continues to inch forward after the latter’s shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement on Friday. Amedisys stockholders voted to make the move in a 25,069,466 to 30,082 vote, while 67,374 shares voted to abstain, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The outcome of the […]