Now and then it takes a wake-up call to get us to change our perspective or behavior. It seems to me an alarm rang particularly loudly this week for home care operators and Medicare Advantage, thanks to a webinar sponsored by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.
Just consider these stats presented by Lindsay Doak, director of research for BerryDunn:
- Last year, total Medicare Advantage enrollment reached 48% of the population — a steady increase since 19% in 2007.
- In one state — New Jersey — enrollment totaled 38% last year, up from 11% in 2008.
- In one county — Northampton, NC — enrollment totaled 45% last year.
- This year, more Medicare Advantage plans are available — 3, 998 — than in any other year going back to 2010.
- About half of all Medicare beneficiaries now have more than 40 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from this year. And in 27 counties, Medicare beneficiaries have 75 or more.
Brrring! If any operator needed proof that Medicare Advantage not only is here to stay but is growing at an exponential rate, this is it. And that means that any home care operator that already is not working with Medicare Advantage plans better start thinking about it and acting on it — or risk losing access to a potentially large client pool.
Doak offered home health operators a compelling way to do it: Prove your value. Any or all of the following may apply: You offer a lower cost care setting; you have expertise in managing a mobile workforce; and you have a track record in lowering hospitalization and ED use.
It’s not always easy to face reality, especially as it often entails a measure of transformation. In the case of staring down Medicare Advantage, the answer may be clear. If you want to survive as an operator then you know what you need to do.
Liza Berger is editor of McKnight’s Home Care. Email her at [email protected].
