Home Health & Hospice Week

Chain celebrates closure of SEC investigation.

Medicare rate cuts continue to take their toll on home care providers, including the four publicly traded chains, but the losses aren't as massive as the ones that hit them in the year-ago quarter.

Almost Family Inc. reported decreases in both profits and revenues, according to its third quarter earnings release. The Louisville, Ky.-based provider recorded $4.1 million in net income on $85.1 million in revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to a $4.8 million profit on $86.2 million in revenues for the year-ago quarter.

Medicare rate cuts for 2012 stripped about $2.7 million from its revenues, and Medicare Advantage changes cut another $0.8 million, Almost Family says in the release. The company did cheer the conclusion of the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Almost Family with no enforcement action recommended.

Gentiva Health Services Inc. managed to cut its losses from a whopping $473.6 million in the third quarter of 2011 to $375,000 in the latest quarter, it says in its release. Its revenues decreased 6 percent in that period, from $449.7 million to $424.4 million. Atlanta-based Gentiva noted that hospices made up 45 percent of its total net revenues.

Amedisys Inc. and LHC Group Inc. both increased profits as well as revenues. Baton Rouge, La.-based Amedisys reported net income of $10.0 million on revenues of $375.6 million for the quarter, compared to a massive $423.7 million loss on $370.3 million in revenues for the same time period last year. Admissions and hospice average census are up, the company says.

Lafayette, La.-based LHC reported net income of $7.9 million on revenues of $158.9 for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares to a $36.0 million loss on $153.4 million in revenues for the same quarter in 2011. Hurricane Isaac-related hardships affected the quarter's earnings, LHC says in a release.

Watch out: Several companies warned of possible earnings impacts related to Hurricane Sandy for the fourth quarter. Almost Family operates about 25 percent of its visiting nurse locations in Sandy's area. And Gentiva warned of the 2 percent sequestration cuts to Medicare rates which are likely to take effect in January.