“Home healthcare outpaces skilled nursing in its post-COVID-19 rebound,” by Kimberly Marselas,McKnight’s Senior Living

Quote:

“Though home healthcare rolls were devastated in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has rebounded more quickly than its skilled nursing peers, according to a new analysis from Avalere Health. Home health has actually gained on its pre-pandemic discharge levels, according to a six-month review of Medicare fee-for-service claims. The sector had a 4.6% greater discharge volume in June 2020 versus June 2019, indicating home settings may have been the preferred post-acute option as many hospitals reinstated elective procedures. The declines in both sectors hit hard starting in February, with modest improvements obvious in the home health market in May, according to Avalere.”

LTC Comment:   Medicaid has tried for decades to rebalance from nursing homes to home care. It looks like it’s taking the pandemic, not politicians and policy wonks, to get the job done. Someone should ask, why were we so stuck on nursing homes in the first place and why has it been so difficult to give people the home care they prefer? Someone has asked and provided answers in Medicaid and Long-Term Care.