The Top 10 Home Health Care News Stories Of 2024

Home Health Care News / By Joyce Famakinwa
 
Major deals hit snags. Home health cuts continued. Regulatory noise came in from all sides, in Medicare and in Medicaid. All of those realities made their way into Home Health Care News’ most popular stories for the year. In order to summarize the 2024 that providers had, HHCN is revisiting 10 of its most widely read stories.
 
1. Home Care Industry Slams Finalized 80-20 Rule, Warns Agency Closures Are Coming (April 22)
  
2. Court Orders VitalCaring to Share 43% of Profits With Encompass Health, Enhabit (December 3)
   
3. How The Supreme Court’s Chevron Decision Could Help Stop Home Health Cuts (June 28)
 
4. DOJ Sues To Block ‘Anticompetitive and Illegal’ UnitedHealth Group-Amedisys Deal (November 12) 
  
5. Home Care’s Industry-Wide Turnover Rate Reaches Nearly 80% (July 3)
 
6. The Looming Home Care Disaster In New York State (March 18) 
  
7. ‘We Need A Break, Please!’: Home Health Providers Sound Off On CMS Over Rate Cuts (October 11)
 
8. Enhabit Walks Away From UnitedHealthcare After ‘9 Months Of Unsuccessful Negotiations’ (August 7) 
 
9. 6 Home Care Leaders To Watch, According To Other Home Care Leaders(January 29)
  
10. Pinnacle Home Care CEO: Home Health Margins Will Increase ‘Significantly’ With AI (October 22)

Three Major Health Care Policy Issues to Watch in 2025

Stat News / By John Wilkerson

WASHINGTON — Health care did not play a big role in the election that’s sending President Trump back to the White House and giving Republicans control of Congress. That doesn’t mean Congress will avoid the topic next year.

Trump mostly avoided talking about health care during his 2024 campaign, a contrast from 2016, when he ran on the promise of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. But he did promise to “not cut one penny” from Medicare, and he said he’d give prominent vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now his pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, broad rein to reshape health care. 

However, Trump did promise to extend individual tax cuts that Republicans passed in 2017 and that are set to expire at the end of next year. He also wants to further cut corporate tax rates. 

That tax plan would significantly increase the already ballooning deficit, so Republicans will likely need to rely on health care policy changes to help offset it, according to three former government health care officials, all of whom ran the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid. 

“It was not a health care election,” said Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, who ran the Obama White House Office of Health Reform. “But no, health care will not take a back seat.”

DeParle, Mark McClellan, and Tom Scully spoke at an American Bar Association conference on Dec. 9. Here are the major policy issues they expect to surface next year. 

Medicaid cuts

DeParle predicted that Republicans will target Medicaid for cuts because Trump has promised not to cut spending for Medicare, Social Security, and defense,leaving Medicaid as one of the only big programs to pay for tax cuts. DeParle ran Medicare during the Clinton administration and is now a partner at the private equity firm Consonance Capital Partners, which she cofounded.

Medicaid is especially vulnerable because Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress. That enables them to avoid the Senate filibuster by using a budget process that requires only a simple majority to pass. 

Federal Medicaid spending increased significantly under the Biden administration as enrollment in the health insurance program for the poor swelled, thanks to pandemic-era legislation that prohibited states from disenrolling people. Enrollment began falling after states were allowed to trim their rolls last year. 

Republicans are expected to pursue policies, such as work requirements and capped Medicaid funding levels, that could further reduce enrollment…

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2024 in Review and What to Expect in 2025

SESCO Management Consultants

2024 In Review

• The Fair Labor Standards Act and the White-Collar Exemptions. In April, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a rule aimed at raising the salary threshold for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In November, a federal judge in Texas struck down the DOL's proposed rule on a nationwide basis. As a result, the salary thresholds reverted to the 2019 rule, resetting the White-Collar Exemptions to $35,568 per year.

• The Federal Trade Commission and Non-Compete Agreements. In May, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated a rule that effectively banned non-compete agreements and required employers not to enforce them, which was supposed to take effect in September 2024. The National Labor Relations Board also stated its intent to join the FTC's efforts to curb the use of non-compete agreements. The FTC's rule came under fire in federal litigation and has been blocked.

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidance on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) offers protections for pregnant employees, including requiring employers to provide workplace accommodations. In April, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published final interpretative guidance and regulations implementing the PWFA, which became effective in June. According to the EEOC, accommodations may be available for the temporary inability to perform an essential job function if the employee is expected to be able to perform the function at a to-be-determined time in the future. Moreover, a qualifying medical condition under the PWFA doesn't have to be solely caused by pregnancy and childbirth and can include conditions such as lactation, vomiting, abortion, and pre-eclampsia. This rule survived an initial federal challenge by a coalition of state attorneys general earlier this year.

• Hourly Earnings. Real average hourly earnings for all employees were unchanged from October to November; this result stems from an increase of 0.4 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Real average hourly earnings increased 1.3 percent from November 2023 to November 2024.

What to Expect in 2025

• AI Legislation on the Rise. As 2025 approaches, the legal landscape for employer use of artificial intelligence (“A.”) is poised for further evolution. In 2024 alone, over 400 AI-related bills were introduced across 41 states—a substantial increase from prior years. While Congress has yet to take decisive action, the trends from 2024 suggest a continued rise in state-led AI policies and federal agency guidance in 2025.

• NLRB Poised to Switch to Republican Majority in Early 2025. It is likely there will be changes at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board). President-Elect Trump likely will remove Jennifer Abruzzo from her position as the NLRB’s current General Counsel. President-Elect Trump will have the opportunity to fill two open Member slots on the Board after his inauguration. While we can safely assume the new Republican Board and General Counsel will unwind many of the Biden Administration-era NLRB’s more controversial decisions, including its notable decisions which changed the standard for review of employer rules and policies, and which concocted a union-friendly procedure for recognition without any election – the timing of such is uncertain.

Key Trends Reshaping The Future Of U.S. Healthcare

Forbes / By Bishan Nandy 
 
Technology breakthroughs, legislative changes and a shift toward patient-centered treatment are all driving the U.S. healthcare sector's extraordinary evolution. This article reviews some of the major trends influencing healthcare, along with insights on how healthcare providers should adjust.
 
1. Telehealth: Expanding Access To Care

During the Covid-19 pandemic, telehealth emerged as a key means of providing care, reducing viral exposure and helping to reduce access issues. Services like video consultations and remote patient monitoring enable continuous care, particularly for chronic conditions. On a global scale, telehealth and telemedicine have seen significant growth and transformation, with increased adoption and advancements in technology, regulatory changes, a patient-centric approach and global reach.
 
2. Value-Based Care 

There has been a significant push from the government and the sector perspective to shift the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) model to a value-based care (VBC) approach. Led by CMS, a growing share of healthcare payers have moved away from fee-for-service payment, and more providers than ever before are engaged in some form of quality-linked payment.
A smaller cadre has begun experimenting with advanced forms of population-based payment and large-scale practice transformation to prioritize cost containment and better patient outcomes. One of the key goals is to have the "participation of every clinician and every beneficiary aligned to some value-based model by 2030." These alternative payment models motivate physicians to prioritize patient engagement, quality and safety, patient experience and, consequently, patient outcomes.
 
3. Behavioral Health Integration

The demand for behavioral health treatments has increased in the last several years, especially after the pandemic's increased awareness of mental health issues. Before the pandemic, "fewer than 5% of young adults ages 18–29 years old experienced serious psychological distress." This number rose to between 20% and 30% post-pandemic.
In response, healthcare organizations have been increasingly incorporating mental health into both primary and acute care formats, frequently using digital behavioral health platforms and teletherapy. This integration of behavioral health into the treatment pathways helps healthcare organizations better serve the diverse population of Americans who suffer from mental health and substance abuse issues by lowering barriers to mental health care, such as social stigma and geographic restrictions.
 
4. Population Health Management

Population health management is a care delivery approach that aims to enhance the clinical health outcomes of targeted groups of people through better patient engagement and care coordination, supported by efficient operations and financing models. It has been an effective model to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes.

Advanced analytics using data that includes demographic information, clinical information and social determinants of health enable a better understanding of population needs, tailoring of interventions to specific at-risk groups and improved outcomes. According to an article in the International Journal of Integrated Care, "Carefully designed financing arrangements linking payments to high quality care and outcomes can guide provider behavior toward population health care objectives." Providers can enhance population-wide health outcomes and lower hospital admissions and expenses by addressing these issues and putting proactive interventions into place.
 
5. Technology And Digital Health Adoption

Healthcare organizations are increasingly using data analytics and digital tools to support clinical decisions, streamline processes, enhance patient engagement and improve care delivery. A Medtronic article on healthcare technology trends indicates that advancements in technology will reshape the way healthcare is delivered around the world. The use of digital technologies and innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), wearables and apps, machine learning, surgical robots and predictive analytics allow providers to improve patient experience and outcomes, optimize operations and provide better access to care.
 
6. Strategic Partnerships And Mergers

Healthcare providers are considering strategic partnerships and mergers with other community organizations with shared missions aimed at providing a better care continuum to patients. According to Kaufman Hall, strategic partnerships help health systems scale up operations in many ways, such as by providing resources to expand capacity, engaging with large employers and health plans to improve accessibility and obtaining capital at an affordable cost. In fields like telemedicine, behavioral health and home-based care, where collaborations can spur innovation and access, strategic alliances are especially more prevalent.
 
7. Cybersecurity

Healthcare organizations are increasingly focused on cybersecurity due to the growth of advanced digital health solutions and related innovations. Cyberattacks have increased, endangering operational continuity and exposing patient health information to the public. Some of the most prominent and significant methods of cyberattacks that occurred in the last few years, especially during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic era, include phishing, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and malware.
To mitigate these risks and preserve the confidentiality of patient information, healthcare providers are investing in cutting-edge cybersecurity measures like encryption, multifactor authentication and ongoing monitoring.
 
Key Challenges

As the U.S. healthcare system evolves, providers face financial pressures from inflation, fluctuating patient volumes and reimbursement shortfalls. A studyconducted by the American Hospital Association indicates that "economy-wide inflation grew by 12.4% between 2021 and 2023, more than double the 5.2% growth in Medicare reimbursement for hospital inpatient care." Smaller and rural providers are especially affected by this financial uncertainty, which restricts their capacity to make technological investments and implement innovative treatment models. Workforce shortages exacerbate burnout and strain care delivery. Additionally, navigating complex regulations around value-based payments, telehealth and data sharing remains challenging.
 
Conclusion

Organizations must embrace innovation while maintaining a focus on patient-centered care as the healthcare landscape in the U.S. continues to evolve. Healthcare providers may increase access, lower costs and improve patient outcomes by implementing telemedicine, hospital-at-home models, value-based care and cutting-edge digital tools. The future of healthcare lies in an integrated, innovation-enabled ecosystem that serves the needs of all stakeholders including patients, providers and communities.