Home health sees spending, utilization decline as hospice equivalents grow, MedPAC reports

Home health sees spending, utilization decline as hospice equivalents grow, MedPAC reports
McKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 7/19/24
Though hospice spending and utilization appear to be on the rise, Medicare spending on home health has fallen amid declining utilization in recent years, according to a new report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. In 2022, the year of the most recent available data, Medicare home health spending shrank to $16.4 billion. That compares to $17 billion the year prior, the report found. Meanwhile, the number of home health users declined by 6.3% from 2021, and the overall share of Medicare beneficiaries that use home health shrank by 3% from the year prior. The total number of in-person home health visits decreased by 9.6% year-over-year in 2022... Meanwhile, the hospice industry has experienced both reimbursement and utilization gains in recent years, MedPAC reported. Medicare hospice payments rose 2.7% year-over-year in 2022, while the number of beneficiaries using hospice services ticked up by 0.4%. These patients are also receiving more care; the total number of hospice days provided to beneficiaries increased by 2% in 2022.