The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges that the New York Department of Health selected Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) as CDPAP’s single fiscal intermediary as part of a sham bid process and that the deal funneled millions of dollars of extra revenue to PPL.

“New York’s backroom deal with PPL has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and cast countless Medicaid patients to the curb,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald for the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said in a statement. “Today’s action is the latest reminder that the Justice Department is mobilizing every available tool to protect taxpayer-funded programs from fraud and corruption.”

The case is a civil complaint seeking injunctive relief.

PPL, an Alpharetta, Georgia-based financial management services company, was awarded the contract to be the sole administrator of the CDPAP program in October 2024. CDPAP’s transition to a single fiscal intermediary was fraught on several fronts, including a class action lawsuit, several registration deadline extensions, the resignation of the company’s president and a restraining order. 

A PPL spokesperson told Home Health Care News in a statement that the company strongly disagrees with the characterizations in the lawsuit and will respond fully through the appropriate legal process.

“Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) was selected through a transparent, competitive process to strengthen and modernize New York’s CDPAP program, and we are proud of our work to deliver greater accountability, consistency and support for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who rely on it,” the statement read. “We have worked alongside the New York State Department of Health throughout the transition and at every step cooperated transparently with our state partners. We are proud of what we have achieved with the State of New York and stand by our performance.”

The lawsuit names PPL, Dr. James McDonald in his official capacity as the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health and Amir Bassiri, individually and in his official capacity as Medicaid Director at the New York State Department of Health.

In a statement shared with HHCN, New York’s Department of Health called the lawsuit baseless and inexcusable, and said it is an attempt by Washington Republicans to score political points.

“The fact of the matter is this administration saved CDPAP from a fiscal crisis by removing hundreds of wasteful administrative middlemen,” the statement read. “In the process, we reduced costs for state and federal taxpayers while protecting home care for those who need it. As the courts have confirmed, this was accomplished through a fair and legally sound competitive bidding process.”

The allegations

The DOJ’s complaint alleges that PPL made false statements about costs, readiness and transition progress and used the program to extract improper profits while causing disruptions to caregivers and medically vulnerable patients.

It also alleges that New York and PPL rigged the procurement process, and that PPL was effectively chosen before the formal procurement process even began.

The DOJ alleged that PPL won its contract by making false or misleading statements, including that the company’s workforce was not made up of qualified administrative professionals, but call center temp workers. The suit also alleges that PPL touted its in-house software, called PPL@Home, in its bid – but that PPL only created the software after it submitted its bid and that it would ultimately be “rife with glitches and breakdowns.” The DOJ also alleged that PPL misrepresented its finances, and did not in fact have the financial capital structure to support the startup costs associated with the CDPAP contract.

The selection process has been questioned previously. In December 2024, Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) wrote a letter to the Inspector General of New York and the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, suggesting that “the Hochul Administration had all but chosen PPL to be the statewide [fiscal intermediary] for CDPAP long before issuing an [request for proposal].” Lawmakers have also introduced legislation to allow the creation of more fiscal intermediaries. 

The DOJ’s complaint also alleges that PPL used the program to extract improper profits while causing disruptions to caregivers and medically vulnerable patients. According to the lawsuit, PPL played an “hourly rate game” that allowed it to siphon as profits a small percentage of the cost of each hour of care.

“Because CDPAP bills approximately 350 million hours of care to New York each year, even taking a few cents per hour as revenue would mean tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains,” the suit reads.

Further, the DOJ alleged that systemic failures in PPL’s operations led to widespread financial distress for caregivers and forced some patients into institutionalized settings against their will.

“Caregivers have worked without paychecks or abandoned their existing livelihoods after going unpaid under PPL’s management,” the suit reads. “Many caregivers have received materially lower pay under PPL than they previously received for their CDPAP services, or received paychecks from PPL that did not compensate them for all the hours they worked. Many patients lost their ability to continue to receive care from the caregivers of their choosing, or to receive care within the dignified confines of their own homes. Many were shunted into nursing homes or separated from their family caregivers as a result.”

Additionally, the suit alleges that PPL and New York’s Department of Health orchestrated a coverup of the fraud scheme, “peddl[ing] falsehoods” to hide the scope and nature of pre-bid award coordination.

The suit’s aims

The government is seeking a permanent injunction, a freeze on certain PPL funds and the possible appointment of a receiver.

According to the complaint, the injunction is necessary to stop the Department of Health and PPL from “making false statements and misrepresentations related to CDPAP, to stop PPL’s siphoning of funds from the federal coffers and to unwind the damage DOH and PPL have already caused through these violations of federal law.”

The government asked the court to freeze certain PPL funds based on information included in the company’s cost proposal, which indicated that PPL would accept a $68.50 per-member, per-month payment for the life of the contract as its sole compensation for running the CDPAP program, according to the suit. The freeze would extend to any funds beyond the $68.50 per-member, per-month payment and any amounts that have flowed to caregivers, such as the money PPL obtains as the difference between the amount it receives from the MCOs and the amounts it pays its caregivers.

The Civil Division’s Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch investigated the case. Assistant Director Patrick Runkle and Trial Attorneys Francisco Unger and Shimeng Zhang are litigating the case.

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Following Gemspring Capital’s acquisition of Freedom, Holzer aims to make the company an aggressive M&A player while expanding service lines and client demographics. To do so, Holzer plans to leverage the provider’s dual approach to English as a second language and English as a primary language, as well as its high retention rates and culture of compliance.

“We think we have an enormous opportunity to grow a first-in-class, multi-state, non-skilled and adult day company,” Holzer told Home Health Care News. “Even though the allure of growing quickly is always there, I think we’re trying to be incredibly purposeful about building the foundation the right way, so that we’re able to grow with speed and not suffer the consequences of not building the foundation correctly the first time.”

Louisville, Kentucky-based Freedom operates in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Tennessee, providing predominantly non-medical home care services, as well as integrated adult day centers. The company employs approximately 3,000 workers and serves slightly under 3,000 clients.

Holzer has previously served as the CEO of in-home substance use disorder treatment provider Aware Recovery Care, the founder and CEO of Lacuna Health, a Kindred Health subsidiary and the president of Kindred’s corporate innovations division.

Growth strategy and operating under increased scrutiny

The value proposition for non-medical home care is enormous, Holzer said, even more so than when he began his career – but providers are also coping with an enormous amount of pressure.

Two opposing forces characterize the home-based care operating environment, he said: tremendous acceptance of the importance of non-facility-based care and enormous pressure to control costs and reduce fraud, particularly on the Medicaid and Medicare sides.

The non-medical side of home-based care is “maybe a couple years behind that type of pressure,” compared to skilled home health, he said. Still, organizations like Freedom must prepare for an environment with increased scrutiny.

“[Freedom’s] approach is compliance is not a department, it’s a cornerstone,” Holzer said. “If you do things from day one the right way, and you have a culture of always trying to do the right thing, … you get to focus on growth instead of circling back and having to fight fires you didn’t set.”

Bolstering the company’s growth potential is its dual focus on English as a second language and English as a primary language, Holzer said, which differentiates Freedom in the markets it operates in.

Another tailwind for the company is a high retention rate. Holzer reported that Freedom’s caregiver retention rate is in the high 70s, which he attributes to the company hiring caregivers from communities that represent its clients.

Avenues for growth

Holzer sees his role as CEO as “carrying the torch” of Freedom’s previous leadership while pursuing several potential growth opportunities, including reimbursement and service line diversification.

Freedom currently focuses on Medicaid patients, but Holzer has his eye on private pay as a potential growth area, as well as veteran services. The company has a growing intellectual disability disorder business, Holzer said, and is considering serving clients of different demographics.

“We see inordinate opportunities to use the expertise we have here to continue to do it for different types of populations, not necessarily just seniors,” Holzer said.

The new chief executive is also looking to grow Freedom’s footprint. Approximately 80% of the company’s business is concentrated in Kentucky, but Holzer aims to grow density in other states Freedom operates in and expand into new ones, leveraging both organic growth and M&A.

“We’re going to be aggressive players in mergers and acquisitions as we look for potential opportunities to grow geographically or different service lines through an acquisition framework, as well,” Holzer said.

Holzer said there is a clear runway to Freedom’s growth – but a challenge is that there are too many ways to grow.

“What not to do is sometimes even more important than what to do,” he said. “When everything looks like a shiny penny, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can collect them all at once. I think it’s being very, very intentional and continuing to ask yourself to prioritize opportunities, and being very disciplined about not trying to accomplish too much.”

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When it comes to Medicare Advantage, providers experience a range of pains beyond just rates, including administrative burden, prior authorization delays and care denials and appeals. That’s according to a survey conducted by Home Health Care News in anticipation of the PAYER Summit taking place in Chicago from June 17-18. 

Of the survey respondents, 88% worked for organizations offering at least one home-based service line, including skilled home health, at-home non-clinical personal care or SNF-at-home. Respondents primarily held senior roles, including leadership or clinical leadership roles.

Medicare Advantage often reimburses for home-based care services at lower rates than traditional Medicare fee-for-service. Data from the technology and administrative services company Homecare Homebase indicate a 38% delta between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. 

Providers are feeling that delta. More than half – 56.2% – of survey respondents reported that Medicare Advantage is the payer type exerting the most pressure on their organizations, nearly twice the rate of the next-closest payer, Medicaid, at 31%.

Low reimbursement rates remain top of mind, cited as a top-two MA challenge by 56% of respondents. But rates are far from the only pain point. General administrative burden was one of the top two challenges associated with Medicare Advantage for 43.8% of respondents. Prior authorizations and delays were among the top challenges for 37.5% of respondents, as were denials.

Medicaid was also a sore spot for a significant portion of providers, with 31% naming it as the payer type applying the most financial pressure. Looking ahead to 2027, rate cuts and inadequate updates emerged as the top Medicaid-related risk, cited by 31% of survey respondents. Eligibility redeterminations and coverage churn and denials/audits/recoupments each followed at 19%. Payment delays rounded out the list at 13%.

Many respondents reported that reimbursement rates across payer types were inadequate, with 50% saying their rates were somewhat or very inadequate. Some, 18.8%, said their reimbursement rates were neutral, and 31.3% said they were somewhat adequate. No respondents reported that their rates were very adequate.

Higher rates were also ranked as the most likely to improve financial sustainability, with 75% of respondents saying that higher base rates were among the top two changes most likely to improve it across all payer types. Respondents were next focused on prior authorization burdens, with 43.8% reporting that reductions in prior authorization requirements would most improve financial burden.

Some home-based care providers have reported netting reimbursement rate wins in recent months. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (NASDAQ: AVAH) has notched several rate increases recently, and leadership expects mid-single-digit state rate increases in 2026. Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS) has also reported favorable rate increases, including a rate increase in the state of Illinois, which company leadership expects will add approximately $17.5 million to the company’s annualized revenues. 

But reimbursement issues persist, and providers are taking action in response. Three-fourths of respondents said that in the past 12 months they have limited new admissions for certain payers, primarily due to payer reimbursement or administrative burden. Another 25% said they increased billing or revenue cycle management staffing or outsourced these tasks, and 18.8% said they reduced certain services due to payer challenges.

To register for the PAYER Summit taking place June 17-18 in Chicago, click here.

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CMS announced its plans on Thursday, stating that it was providing states with early notice of its intent to implement the budget neutrality requirement. The agency plans to apply the budget neutrality standards to approvals issued on or after Jan. 1, 2027, on a provisional, temporary basis if a final rule is not yet in place by that date.

Under the budget neutrality requirements, CMS would not approve new demonstrations, demonstration renewals or demonstration amendments, unless the CMS Chief Actuary certified them as budget neutral, which is to say that they are not expected to increase federal spending compared to the state’s Medicaid program without the demonstration.

“Medicaid works best when states can innovate and are held accountable for results,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “The budget neutrality requirements we plan to propose are designed to ensure that testing new ideas doesn’t cost taxpayers more than current approaches, while improving health outcomes for the people we serve. We’re committed to making this transition smooth for states.”

The move is the implementation of a statutory requirement enacted by the Working Families Tax Cut (WFTC) legislation that also included an 80-hour work requirement for certain Medicaid beneficiaries. 

CMS said that the new budget neutrality requirements would ensure consistent oversight and clear budget neutrality requirements, which would help states improve programs cost-effectively and ensure fiscal integrity, while lowering costs and improving outcomes.

In its announcement, CMS stated that the agency recognizes the changes could affect states unevenly, depending on the status of their demonstration approval and renewal processes.

“States with demonstrations up for renewal in 2027 may need to take additional steps,” the announcement read. “CMS is committed to offering technical assistance to support a smooth transition as well as providing information on the updated review methodologies to be proposed in future rulemaking.”

People who receive services through section 1115 waivers include some of the population receiving home- and community-based services, industry experts previously told Home Health Care News.

“1115 waivers have been a critical policy tool for states to design Medicaid programs that address the real-world needs of complex patient populations,” Kristen Palumbo, chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of Innovive Health, previously told HHCN. “These waivers allow for innovative approaches that reduce barriers to access and improve outcomes. Scaling back this flexibility would not only limit states’ ability to respond to local needs, but also risk destabilizing care for those who rely on it most.”

Medford, Massachusetts-based Innovive provides home-based skilled nursing services to patients with complex behavioral health needs.

CMS has previously taken action to limit some section 1115 demonstrations. In April 2025, the agency announced that it would no longer approve new federal funding for designated state health programs (DSHP) and designated state investment programs (DSIP) under section 1115 demonstration authority – which include some in-home non-medical services. 

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Medicaid program integrity efforts have been ramping up quickly, and last week we saw clear evidence of this trend when the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) suspended payments to 49 home health providers with billing patterns that the agency deemed suspicious. 

This makes Ohio an early state to take cues from CMS on shifting away from pay-and-chase methodologies and toward more proactive and preventive actions. If other states follow suit, providers in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs will be facing a cascade of more rigorous requirements and intense scrutiny.

Other actions taken by the state’s governor demonstrate how dramatically the Medicaid landscape is shifting. Taking a cue from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) moratorium on new home health providers, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, asked CMS for permission to implement a six-month moratorium on new home health care and hospice businesses becoming Medicaid providers. The governor has implemented other fraud-focused initiatives as well, including new technological tools to add oversight to providers and working to make GPS mandatory for electronic visit verifications (EVV).

Moreover, Ohio politicians have in recent days pursued another method of cracking down on Medicaid. Policymakers attempted to bring forth a bill banning Medicaid payments to family caregivers – though this latest effort failed to come to fruition.

Taken together, the suspension of 49 providers and the state’s other efforts to reduce fraud create a snapshot of the tensions within Medicaid fraud-fighting and the end of the pay-and-chase Medicaid era.

In this week’s exclusive, members-only HHCN+ Update, I’ll highlight the most meaningful fraud-fighting actions taken in Ohio, offering analysis and key takeaways, including:

– The details of Ohio’s anti-fraud strategy

– Where program integrity efforts start to lose supporters

– What the state’s actions foretell for the rest of the home-based care industry

The Ohio Medicaid fraud saga

The news that prompted me to cast a closer eye on Medicaid actions in Ohio was the suspension of 49 home health providers.

I mentioned several of DeWine’s other actions taken to fight fraud in my initial coverage of those suspensions, but they warrant a deeper dive.

Since the beginning of 2023, Ohio secured 444 Medicaid fraud indictments, 481 convictions and 146 civil settlements and judgments resulting in $78.4 million in recovered taxpayer funds. These are pretty staggering numbers – and the state has definitely ramped up lately, so we can only expect these numbers to balloon.

Firstly, the 49 suspensions aren’t the end of that story. The state plans to pursue more, as enabled by a new executive order from DeWine that allows immediate suspension of Medicaid payments to providers upon a credible allegation of fraud. The state has already identified a further 87 providers that officials say will be subject to further review and potential payment suspension.

The state also plans to file rules requiring GPS for all providers using EVV – which may soon be all providers, as Ohio has been phasing in EVV as a mandatory requirement for home health care provider payments. Family and live-in caregivers are currently exempt from EVV requirements, but Ohio Medicaid plans to begin rulemaking to make EVV mandatory for these groups as well.

Notably, among the state’s anti-fraud efforts, its Medicaid program is pursuing a six-month moratorium on new enrollments in home health and hospice. This was foreshadowed by the national moratorium on new Medicare home health enrollments, under which CMS recommended that states’ Medicaid programs consider their own moratoria.

In an FAQ released alongside the Medicare home health and hospice moratoria announcement, CMS said the following:

“CMS encourages each state to, as appropriate, implement a HHA and hospice provider moratorium tailored to the specifics of their beneficiary population, as well as any geographic considerations,” the FAQ read. “Additionally, CMS is offering every state and territory the opportunity to consult with CMS on the prospect of implementing a Medicaid-based, CHIP-based, or a Medicaid and CHIP-based HHA and/or Hospice moratorium in their jurisdictions.”

It seems DeWine took that suggestion seriously and is now pursuing such a ban, looking to consult CMS.

When anti-fraud efforts go too far

Ohio is clearly not messing around when it comes to Medicaid program integrity, but the governor has been at the helm of these initiatives. Among Ohio policymakers, there is no complete consensus on how to fight Medicaid fraud.

Several local news outlets reported that on Monday, Ohio Republicans removed a controversial provision from Ohio House Bill 795 – the ban on Medicaid payments for paid family caregivers. After advocates testified against the ban, Republicans removed it. 

Support for programs to pay family caregivers varies.  Leaders at the highest levels of the U.S. health care system have levied complaints: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), said that such programs are “rife with fraud, because we have no way at CMS to determine if they actually performed that duty or not.”

On the other hand,  the Ohio Capital Journal reported that DeWine has been defending the family caregiver Medicaid program for weeks. The outlet also reported that former Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, was happy that the family caregiver provision was removed from House Bill 795. 

“It feels like we’re moving in the right direction so far,” Stephens reportedly said. “Hopefully, we can come up with a product that does enable [us] to keep fraud, waste, and abuse at bay. But also, still, we aren’t harming the things that do work in Medicaid.”

And State Rep. Josh Williams, a Republican from Sylvania Township who introduced the provision, said that removing it was the right call based on constituent feedback.

“That was a direct result of listening to interested parties and constituents,” Williams said, according to the Capital Journal.

This failed bill provision demonstrates that while anti-fraud efforts in Ohio are already comprehensive and growing, support for the strictest levels of program integrity is not guaranteed, and advocacy can succeed.

Why this matters for the rest of the country

Examining Ohio’s anti-fraud measures is key because the state considers itself a leader in combatting Medicaid program integrity – and where there are leaders, there are followers.

I want to underscore that DeWine is following CMS’ advice on Medicaid home health moratoria. Given that CMS made the recommendation, we can anticipate that other states may follow suit. I also expect an increase in suspensions like those seen in Ohio, and we may see other states beefing up their data-tracking capabilities to better flag potentially fraudulent providers.

Ohio might as well be a microcosm of the Medicaid fraud landscape at this point. The state is taking cues from CMS by implementing proactive crackdowns while expanding anti-fraud efforts, but such initiatives are constrained by the need to maintain access to home-based services and the political risks involved in jeopardizing people’s care.

And as the home-based care sector as a whole responds to current aggressive anti-fraud actions, the low cost of the setting is one of the most powerful points to emphasize. That is, while fraud is costly and bad actors in the industry should be rooted out, negative headlines about fraudsters should not obscure the fact that expansion of at-home care is a powerful lever in bringing down overall healthcare costs. The good news is that Ohio is acknowledging this explicitly. See this statement from the state’s Department of Medicaid:

“Ohio’s home and community-based care programs are grounded in data showing that legitimate in-home care is typically safer for individuals and significantly more affordable for taxpayers. In 2024, Ohio saved more than $600 million in taxpayer funds that would have been expended had patients receiving home healthcare been diverted to skilled nursing or other residential care services, saving several billion dollars over the course of the DeWine Administration. On average, home health care costs half as much as placement in a nursing facility.

Ensuring access to appropriate home-based care is both a responsible use of public resources and a critical part of meeting the needs of our most vulnerable Ohioans who otherwise would require placement in higher-cost nursing facilities.”

While I’ve spoken of my concerns that program integrity efforts will be executed with too broad a brush, this demonstrates that in the longer term, compliant providers still have the wind at their backs: providing services that are preferred by clients and payers alike.

The post Ohio’s Medicaid Enforcement Surge Raises Stakes For At-Home Care Providers Nationwide appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Humana will sell all, or substantially all, of its minority interest to a consortium of investors, according to an announcement released on Wednesday. The company plans to utilize sale proceeds for general corporate purposes.

Gentiva was formed in 2022 after Humana divested Kindred at Home’s hospice and personal care divisions to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, while retaining a 40% ownership stake. Humana had acquired the remaining interest in Kindred at Home in 2021 and said at the time that it planned to eventually divest the provider’s hospice, palliative and personal health care services.

After the initial divestiture, Humana executives said the company could offer its patients a full continuum of care through its partnership and minority stake in Gentiva. 

Today, Gentiva provides end-of-life care at more than 430 locations across 35 states.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC is acting as Humana’s financial advisor. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP are acting as Humana’s legal advisors.

Humana’s divestiture of Gentiva is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The company stated that it does not anticipate a material impact to its 2026 earnings related to this transaction.

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Chambers is a regional home health and hospice platform that serves eastern Texas. The company serves thousands of patients annually across more than 20 Texas counties through three brands, Chambers Home Health, Chambers Hospice, and Healthcare Associates LLC, according to a statement from Cross Keys Capital, which advised the company on the sale. 

“We are excited to partner with LHG, as they share our vision, values, and commitment to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care across the communities we serve,” Melissa Chambers, founder of Chambers Home Health & Hospice, said in a statement.

Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

The transaction combines Chambers’ footprint and reputation in the community with Lucent’s resources and health care operating expertise, according to Cross Keys. It will position Chambers, which operates eight locations, for continued expansion.

The transaction underscores ongoing consolidation and investment across the home-based care sector as providers pursue greater scale, enhanced operational capabilities and strategic partnerships to address growing demand.

Home health and hospice services continue to attract significant interest from investors and operators as health care systems increasingly emphasize lower-cost, patient-centered care delivered in the home.

Similar to national trends, swelling aging populations are driving demand for hospice in the Lone Star State. Seniors 65 and older represent roughly 13.9% of the state’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of individuals in this age cohort is anticipated to nearly double by 2060, according to a report from the Texas Demographic Center.

Roughly 145,160 Medicare decedents received hospice care in Texas during 2024, according to a report from the National Alliance for Care at Home. The national average hospice utilization rate hovered around 53.1% that year, the report found.

Founded in 2007, Lucent Health Group (LHG) is a veteran-owned home health and hospice provider serving communities across North Texas. The company offers a range of in-home care services, including skilled nursing, therapy, and personal caregiving for seniors and individuals recovering from surgery.

The company operates through a number of affiliated brands, including Lucent Home Health, Accord Palliative and Hospice Care, Goshen Healthcare Services LLC, and Imparting Knowledge Home Health LLC.

Lucent CEO Trent Cargile said the partnership marks a significant milestone in the organization’s long-term growth strategy and will enhance its capacity to serve patients across the region.

“This partnership marks an important milestone for our company, and we believe LHG is the right partner to support our continued growth,” Cargile said in a statement. “This transaction and partnership would not have been possible without the Cross Keys team, and we are deeply grateful for their expertise, strategic insight, and steadfast guidance throughout the process.”

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The Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards recognize outstanding creativity, innovation, and impact in marketing and advertising campaigns across the healthcare, post-acute care, and senior living sectors. Evaluated by a panel of respected industry experts, the competition attracts entries from organizations and agencies throughout the United States and around the world, highlighting the latest strategies and trends shaping healthcare marketing.

Participating in the awards program offers a valuable opportunity to elevate your organization’s profile, showcase successful campaigns, and gain industry-wide recognition. Whether you are submitting work for your own organization or on behalf of a client, the Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards provide a platform to demonstrate your expertise, celebrate your team’s achievements, and stand out among industry peers.

The following industries are eligible to apply for the 2026 Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards:

• Behavioral Health
• Home Health & Home Care
• Hospice & Palliative Care
• Memory Care, Senior Housing & Senior Living
• Skilled Nursing

Below are the eligible award categories for this year’s competition:

• Audio/Radio/Podcast Campaign
• Digital Display/PPC Campaign
• New Brand Launch
• Print, Direct, & Billboard Campaign
• Rebranding (Before & After)
• Social Media Campaign
• Video or TV Campaign
• Multimedia Campaign (a combination of three (3) or more categories listed above)

The early bird entry fee is $550 per campaign and must be submitted by September 30, 2026. Final entry fees are $650 per campaign and must be submitted by October 31, 2026. Winners will be announced on December 16, 2026.

To learn more about the competition, including what materials are required to enter, judging criteria, answers to your frequently asked questions (FAQs) and more, visit the Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards website at https://www.aspectawards.com/.

Still have questions? Contact the Healthcare Awards Program Manager at awards@wtwhmedia.com.

The post The 2026 Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards Are Now Open appeared first on Home Health Care News.

GAO said Medicare could have saved about $7.6 billion if hospice routine home care from 2022 through 2024 had been reimbursed using adjusted home health per-visit rates rather than hospice’s current per-day payment system, according to a GAO report released Tuesday. 

The report found that Medicare paid about $16.7 billion for hospice routine home careamong the beneficiaries included in its analysis, compared with an estimated $9.1 billion under a home health-style per-visit payment system.

GAO found that “low-visit” hospices received substantially higher effective payments per visit than high-visit hospices under the current payment structure. “Low visit” hospices are concentrated in known high-fraud areas, according to the National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance). The Alliance recommended that hospice reform should focus first on fighting fraudulent activity, which it said would result in greater savings than those outlined by the GAO. 

The Alliance also contended that hospice is a comprehensive benefit and requires a different payment approach.

“The GAO report also fails to recognize the distinct differences between the home health and hospice benefit structures, regulatory requirements, and skillsets needed to deliver care,” the Alliance’s statement read. “The hospice daily payment rate is a deliberate design that reflects the nature of hospice care. Unlike home health, hospice is a holistic, comprehensive benefit that includes all services needed for the palliation and management of a patient’s terminal condition.”

While the Alliance questioned the GAO’s comparison of hospice to home health, Mollie Gurian, vice president of policy and government affairs for LeadingAge, said that the comparison could be a helpful tool.

“Their attempt to look at a per-visit [payment by] starting with home health, and then trying to add in some of the things that home health doesn’t cover, is probably going to be a helpful starting point for us to make it less theoretical,” Gurian told Home Health Care News’ sister publication, Hospice News.

Gurian said that the GAO did not attempt to compare the entire home health payment system to the entire hospice payment system, and made adjustments to its model to attempt to make it a more “apples to apples” comparison. 

LeadingAge members are likely to find flaws in the comparison, Gurian said, and are likely to respond to the recommendation by attesting that home health payments themselves are insufficient. The report could prompt additional questions about the home health rate, such as if travel time is appropriately accounted for.

Jim Parker, Senior Editor of Hospice News, contributed reporting to this article.

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Independent survey of more than 400 home care leaders finds widespread confidence in AI as agencies focus on efficiency, profitability, and workforce support

WACO, Texas, June 9, 2026 – AxisCare, a leading provider of home care management software, today announced findings from independent research on AI adoption across the home care industry. The survey of more than 400 home care industry leaders reveals that 91% are already using or planning to use AI for operations management – and 92% are confident it will deliver measurable value to their organizations.

The research highlights a broader transformation occurring across the home care industry as agencies increasingly turn to technology to address longstanding operational challenges. Rather than replacing human expertise, respondents view AI as a tool to augment staff capabilities, streamline workflows, and enable teams to focus more time on client care.

The survey found that agencies already using AI are seeing measurable impact:

• Reduced costs through increased efficiencies (64%)

• Improved strategic decision-making (59%)

• Freed caregivers and staff to focus on care delivery (48%)

“This research confirms that home care has crossed a threshold. Agencies are adopting AI not as an experiment, but as a core part of how they run their business. Our focus is on delivering a System of Action – a single platform that doesn’t just store information, but takes coordinated actions, executes intelligent workflows, and helps home care agencies achieve outcomes as a strategic operating advantage,” said Todd Allen, CEO & Co-Founder of AxisCare.

Download the full report: The State of AI for Home Care Agencies: A 2026 Survey of Home Care Agency Leaders

About AxisCare: AxisCare is the leading all-in-one operating system for single and multi-location home care agencies, serving more than 4,000 providers across all 50 states and seven countries. Built for Private Pay, Skilled Care, IDD, Medicaid, and VA programs, AxisCare unifies scheduling, care delivery, compliance, billing, and revenue cycle management into a connected System of Action across every stage of care. Through automation, operational intelligence, and a suite of AI-powered capabilities, AxisCare helps agencies streamline operations, strengthen financial performance, accelerate growth, and stay focused on what matters most: delivering exceptional care in the home. For more information, visit axiscare.com.

Media Contact: Kendra Pulliam, PR@axiscare.com

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