The Care Team Steps into Indiana with 1st Care Acquisition

The Care Team (TCT) recently acquired Indiana-based 1st Care Home Health Services, marking the company’s entry into that state and another step along its growth trajectory. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. Winston & Strawn LLP acted as legal counsel to The Care Team, which provides home health and hospice in Michigan, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, […]

MedPAC to Push for 20% Cut to Hospice Aggregate Payment Cap

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is poised to recommend that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduce the aggregate cap for hospice payments by 20% in 2024. The commission has yet to vote on the recommendations, but MedPAC has called for similar cuts annually since 2018. To date, Congress has not […]

Hospice VBID: Understanding the 2023 Program Modifications

The hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model will begin its third year on Jan. 1, 2023, meaning that some of the program’s rules will change. Often called the MA hospice carve-in, the voluntary demonstration is designed to assess payer and provider performance related to hospice within Medicare Advantage (MA). The U.S. Centers […]

Optum’s LHC Group Acquisition Expected to Close in Q1 2023

The anticipated acquisition of LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) by the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum is now expected to close during the first quarter of 2023. Optum in April announced its agreement to purchase the Lafayette, Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider for $5.5 billion. Initially expected to close this year, LHC Group today […]

SCAN CEO Jain: Don’t Glorify Fee-for-Service to Improve Medicare Advantage

When stakeholders consider ways to improve Medicare Advantage, they should take care not to romanticize fee-for-service Medicare in the process, SCAN Health Plan CEO Dr. Sachin Jain cautions. Medicare Advantage (MA) is a growing force in health care. More MA plans emerge each year and the size of their beneficiary populations continues to grow. While […]

Amedisys Having ‘Significant Conversations’ with Prospective Palliative Care Partners

As Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) Chairman Paul Kusserow rejoins the C-suite as CEO, his list of priorities includes increasing clinician retention rates, leveraging innovation arm Contessa and returning to some degree of earnings predictability. Kusserow — who holds a reputation as a successful turnaround executive — held the Amedisys CEO role from 2014 until early […]

CommCare Expands with Notre Dame Hospice, Home Health Acquisitions

Louisiana-based CommCare Corporation recently acquired Notre Dame Hospice and Notre Dame Home Health for an undisclosed sum. The Notre Dame Health System was affialated with the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. The archdiocese in August announced an agreement to exit from all affiliated senior care businesses, including the health system. CommCare’s purchase of Notre Dame’s […]

Enhabit Acquires Home Health Agency from Southwest Florida Provider

Enhabit, Inc. (NYSE: EHAB) has acquired Southwest Florida Home Care, Inc.’s home health agency in Fort Myers for an undisclosed sum. The transaction expands Enhabit’s home health footprint in Florida to 22 locations. Acquisitions have been on the menu since day one for Enhabit, which spun off from Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) in July. The […]

Wages Rising for Hospice Workers; Aides See 9.09% Increase

Wages for hospice aides and CNAs are rising faster than those for other interdisciplinary team members as providers seek to stem rampant turnover among those employees. The national average hourly rate for hospice aides and CNAs rose 9.09% in 2022, compared to a 4.52% increase in 2021, according to the 2022-2023 Hospice Salary & Benefits […]

HHS Moving into 2023 with Eyes on Health Equity, Public-Private Partnerships in Value-Based Programs

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has set its sights on the long-term expansion of value-based reimbursement, as well as advancing health equity. Going forward, this could mean greater collaboration with private-sector payers and providers. Also on the table is the question of how to meet the needs of Medicare beneficiaries who increasingly […]