Enhabit Home Health and Hospice CEO Barbara Jacobsmeyer warned home care providers they must “be at the table” with Medicare Advantage plans if they hope to compete in the industry. Jacobsmeyer made the comment late Thursday during the Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference.
“When we look at the communities that we serve today from 2020 to 2021, we have seen an 11% increase in Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in our communities and a 4% decline in traditional Medicare, so we have to be at the table with them,” Jacobsmeyer said.
The number of seniors enrolled in MA plans is expected to surpass those covered by traditional Medicare plans within the next couple of years. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated 48% of Medicare-eligible seniors are enrolled in MA plans. But MA plans tend to reimburse providers at a lower rate than fee-for-service Medicare plans.
Still, when Jacobsmeyer guided Enhabit through its July 1 spin-off from former parent, Encompass Health, she made MA plans a priority, establishing a payer innovation team to help negotiate more contracts with those plans. Enhabit had a number of contracts with smaller, regional MA plans, as well as one national plan when it separated from Encompass, according to Jacobsmeyer. That number could increase as the team is currently talking to a number of large MA plans, but the plans must pay rates that are lucrative for Enhabit, according to Jacobsmeyer.
“We are at the table saying let’s be partners in this,” Jacobsmeyer said. “We already have really great low readmission rates. We challenge them to look at their own data and say what are your other providers doing?”
Also Thursday, Jacobsmeyer said growth continues to be a priority at Enhabit. The company plans to open 10 new locations annually for the foreseeable future and spend between $50 million and $100 million a year on acquisitions. Enhabit currently has 351 home health and hospice locations in 34 states.
