For-profit home health agencies are distant costlier for Medicare than nonprofit agencies, according to a national investigate published in a biography Health Affairs. Overall cost per studious was $1,215 aloft during for-profits, with handling costs accounting for $752 of a disproportion and additional increase for $463. Yet a peculiarity of caring was indeed worse during for-profit agencies, and some-more of their patients compulsory repeat hospitalizations.
Researchers during a City University of New York School of Public Health analyzed minute Cost Reports filed with Medicare by 7,165 home health agencies in 2010-2011, as good as information for 22 peculiarity measures from Medicare’s Home Health Compare database covering 9,128 agencies.
Compared to nonprofits, handling costs during for-profit agencies were 18 percent higher, with additional administration (at $476 per patient) accounting for scarcely two-thirds of a $752 disproportion in handling costs. For-profits also did many some-more speech, earthy and occupational therapy visits, that are mostly rarely essential underneath a formidable Medicare remuneration formula. In addition, increase during for-profit agencies combined 15 percent on tip of handling costs vs. a 6.4 percent over-abundance during nonprofit agencies.
Despite their aloft costs, for-profit agencies delivered somewhat lower-quality care. On average, for-profits met any peculiarity customary usually 77.2 percent of
