Medicare: Home Health Agencies with High Visit Rates Skew Averages

摘要

Medicare's expenditures for home health care have been rising rapidly, increasingan average of 33 percent per year since 1989. In a March 1996 report the authors concluded that a combination of factors led to this high rate of growth, including changes in the definition of what is covered under the benefit and the shift from short-term, post-hospital care to more longer-term care for chronic conditions. The authors also reported that the number of Medicare-certified home health agencies (HHA) has seen rapid growth in recent years, increasing from 5,692 agencies at the end of 1989 to 10,133 agencies as of April 1997. The number of propriety (for-profit) HHAs has accounted for 83 percent of this growth, with an increase from 2,007 (35 percent of all HHAs) to 5,699 (56 percent of HHAs). And, the authors found that proprietary agencies consistently provide more visits per beneficiary throughout the country than do voluntary and government agencies.