More than 87% of counties saw a decrease in the average number of fee-for-service (FFS) home health visits in the post-pandemic period, according to a new report from Trella Health.
 
The Home Health Accessibility Among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries report looks at trends shaping home health accessibility.
"Our analysis of Medicare Fee-for-Service claims indicates a concerning trend: decreasing accessibility to skilled home health care at a time when we are experiencing the largest growth in the Medicare population," stated Carter Bakkum, Senior Data Analyst at Trella Health.
 
Below are a few key insights from this special report:
  • 49.9% of counties had five or fewer home health agencies per 1,000 square miles in 2023.
  • 94.1% of counties experienced either a decrease or no change in the number of skilled home health agencies treating more than 10 FFS patients in the post-pandemic period.
  • 83.3% of counties experienced a decrease in the number of FFS home health admissions per 1,000 beneficiaries in the post-pandemic period.
  • 87.4% of counties experienced a decrease in the average number of home health visits in the post-pandemic period, and the number of home health visits per patient day decreased by 17.3% between 2017 and 2023.
The report comes as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans pull a growing number of Medicare beneficiaries out of the traditional FFS model. Agencies nationwide have noted reduced payments, challenges getting necessary authorizations and costly payment denials when working with many MA payors.