Home Care Daily - National Home Care Industry News

With the constant changes to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for home care services, sometimes agencies and other providers can no longer offer services to certain clients. When that happens, too often it appears as though elderly and disabled individuals (as well as family members) are caught completely off guard.

Due to certain rule changes regarding Medicare reimbursements, some in-home health care services are no longer being provided by various agencies across the country. On January 1, 2020, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a new rule where it would no longer cover therapeutic services for patients who have diagnoses from which they are unlikely to recover (or who would need these services long-term, with no discernible end date in view).

Social isolation can be a very real and debilitating condition for people who lose the ability to get around on their own. Aging seniors are often struggling with isolation, which can lead to an increased risk of depression and take a greater toll on their mental and physical health.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began cutting reimbursement rates for in-home health care as a way to help pay for the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. Those cuts, spread out over a series of years, equaled about 14 percent.

Considerable news coverage revolving around the home care industry tends to be focused on more metropolitan areas. Major cities where the population can be numbered in the millions has a tendency to garner the most attention when it comes to health care of any kind.

While the United States and Canada differ in many respects regarding healthcare, there are similarities in how patients are served and the level of support they may receive following a hospital stay. When patients have adequate access to effective home care, outcomes for both short and long-term can improve.

As more people recognize the value of home care, it is increasing the demand for these services. It’s also allowing others to begin looking beyond the traditional caregiver for these benefits.

It’s easy to assume that home care is strictly for those men and women who need assistance “at home”, but more agencies are recognizing the benefits and value these services can also provide travelers.