Reimbursement misalignment prevents personal care providers from fully participating in value-based care models such as hospital-at home, according to Bekah Corns, VP of quality and clinical, home, Modivcare Personal Care Services, who spoke to McKnight's Home Care for a Newsmakers podcast. Personal care is critical to helping patients transition to home after hospital stays. But the long-term services and supports (LTSS) payer that reimburses for personal care is not the same payer that reimburses for the person’s medical care, she said. Inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates for personal care also pose a challenge for the personal care sector, she said. Editor’s note: This podcast was recorded prior to the news that Modivcare filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Modivcare provides 15,000 personal care aides to 13,000 patients in seven states, said Bekah Corns, VP of quality and clinical, home, Modivcare. The company also provides nonmedical emergency transportation and remote patient monitoring. Medicaid is a major payer for Modivcare’s personal care program, and the vast majority of the company’s personal care workforce is nonskilled home care aides, she noted. There is nursing oversight of aides in several states, she pointed out. While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will significantly cut Medicaid funding, the impact on Modivcare’s personal care patients and workers is not yet clear, Corns said. Going forward, it will be important to advocate how personal care provides value for patients and to larger communities and how it is less expensive to care for someone in their home than to send them to a nursing home. The workforce shortage presents another obstacle for personal care. Modivcare’s strategy is to offer the most competitive rates based on reimbursement, and investing in learning platforms to provide education for aides and a rewards platform to recognize deserving aides. Many family caregivers work for Modivcare, Corns said.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Bekah Corns, VP of quality and clinical, home, Modivcare