Home Health & Hospice Week

Medicare cuts will take their toll on providers, data show. The health care industry may not be as recession-proof as some experts claim. Home health and durable medical equipment spending will slow from recent years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services re-veals in its most recent National Health Expenditure data projections. HHAs have seen a pretty healthy run lately. Annual overall spending, which includes out-of-pocket and commercial insurance payments, grew between 10 and nearly 13 percent every year from 2004 to 2007, CMS says in its new spending estimates. Medicare spending increased even more, from 13.9 percent to 17.6 percent, depending on the year, during that time period. But HHAs should tighten their belts for some leaner years ahead, the new data suggests. CMS expects overall spending to grow in the lower 7 percent to 9 percent range every year for the next decade. Medicare spending will increase even [...]