Homecare Homebase (HCHB), a leading software provider for home-based care, has introduced the 2025 Home Health Impact Model within its HCHB Analytics platform. This tool is designed to help healthcare agencies understand and navigate the financial implications of the new CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rule. The model projects an average 1.63% rate reduction, which aligns closely with CMS’s proposed 1.7%. However, agencies could experience a wide range of impacts, from a 9% reduction to a 12% increase, depending largely on wage index changes.
The new impact model is crucial as it allows agencies to compare their 2024 reimbursements with the proposed 2025 figures, helping them identify where they fall within the expected range. This understanding is vital for strategic planning and ensuring operational stability amidst these changes.
Scott Pattillo, Chief Strategy Officer at HCHB, emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting and advocating for its customers. HCHB plans to submit a data-driven comment letter to CMS, leveraging its significant market share of 44% of home health Medicare patients. This advocacy is aimed at influencing the final rule in a way that mitigates adverse impacts on home health agencies (HHAs).
Furthermore, HCHB will continuously monitor HHAs through dashboards that track CMS’s three behavior change assumptions used to set payment rates. One key assumption by CMS is that HHAs will prioritize higher-paying codes over longer billing periods. However, HCHB data contradicts this, suggesting that CMS’s standard payment amount faces an unfairly significant cut due to the -4.067% Permanent BA Adjustment Factor, alongside past and potential future temporary cuts.
The HCHB impact reports are designed to empower agencies, providing them with critical data for strategic adaptations, advocacy efforts, and maintaining a focus on patient care despite ongoing reimbursement challenges.