High-Acuity Services Driving Admissions Growth at Amedisys

High-acuity care in the home has become an admissions growth engine for Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED), which the company delivers through its subsidiary Contessa. Combined, hospital-at-home and skilled nursing facility-at-home admissions grew by 55% year-over-year during the second quarter of the year. This is compared to a 4% increase in home health same-store admissions and a […]

What a Hospice Benefit Revamp Could Signal for M&A Trends

A restructuring of the Medicare Hospice Benefit could have impacts on merger and acquisition activity in the industry. Calls for changes to hospice eligibility and length of stay are growing louder among industry stakeholders. A main concern being voiced to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is that the current six-month prognosis […]

Agape Care Completes 2 Hospice Acquisitions in Georgia and Alabama

Agape Care Group has acquired two hospices for undisclosed sums — Birmingham, Alabama-based Hope Hospice and Assured Hospice in Cartersville, Georgia. Agape is a portfolio company of Ridgemont Equity Partners. With the addition of Hope Hospice, the company’s footprint has expanded across 20 Alabama counties. Through the Assured Hospice deal —coupled with a recent de […]

Regulatory Pressures Contributing to M&A Slump

Regulatory challenges have contributed to the hospice sector’s current M&A slump, but this year’s volume nevertheless aligns with experts’ forecasts. In addition to those pressures, the industry is also in a cooling period in which companies focus on integrating the assets that many acquired during flurries of activity in 2021 and 2022, according to Mark […]

How Medicaid Boosted Palliative Care Utilization

More cancer patients have been receiving palliative care since the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid. About 18.9% of eligible patients received palliative care in states that expanded Medicaid, up from 17% before the ACA provisions took effect on Jan. 1, 2014, according to American Cancer Society research recently published in Health Affairs. Among non-expansion states, […]

Quality Data, Cost of Care Crucial to VBID Payer Negotiations

Having a detailed lens into quality metrics and service costs is a key for hospices that are searching for sustainable value-based payment pathways. Quality and cost data are important pieces to bring to negotiating tables with payers in value-based reimbursement, according to Joe Calcutt, CFO of Liberty Healthcare Management. Hospices that can demonstrate the ability […]

Hospice & Community Care Affiliates with Hospice of Central Pennsylvania

Hospice & Community Care has inked a deal to affiliate with Hospice of Central Pennsylvania. The affiliation is set to solidify at the beginning of next year, with each organization retaining its own brand and locations. Joining forces will also allow the two Pennsylvania-based nonprofit hospice and palliative care providers to realize cost-savings potential when […]

2 Ways Hospice Compliance Issues Can Sink an M&A Deal

When it comes to hospice M&A, both buyers and sellers must have their eyes out for warning signs that could kill a potential deal. Consolidation remains widespread in the hospice space, though transaction volume has slipped in 2023 compared to prior years. During Q1 of this year, about 14 hospice, home care and home health […]

UnitedHealth Group CEO Offers Update on Amedisys Deal: ‘We’re Now in The Very Early Stages of That Process’

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has been relatively quiet on its strategic plans with Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED), which it is in the process of acquiring via its subsidiary, Optum. The company shed some light on how the home health and hospice asset will fit into its overall scope of services Friday, however. Optum announced plans to […]