CMS announced significant positive changes for 2021 Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, two of which are quite impactful for the home health industry. Supplemental MA benefits will be offered by more plans in 2021. This article covers the two broad categories of benefits:
- Primarily health related benefits include in-home supportive services, support for caregivers, home-based palliative (hospice) care, adult day services and therapeutic massage. These will be provided by about 730 MA plans, a 46% increase from the 500 plans who offer this in 2020.
- Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill, which will be offered by 920 plans, also include in-home supportive services but offer transportation help, meal delivery and others, such as pest control, home cleaning and non-medical transportation. As the author writes, [MA plan members will be covered for] “Anything that helps chronically ill individuals stay in their home and out of the hospital.”
All in all, this is big news, especially when coupled with the all-time high enrollment expected for 2021: 26 million, compared to 24 million in 2020. This is a good time for all agencies to begin crafting a plan to solicit contracts with MA plans in your area.
The article states the number of MA plans offering in-home care services will be finalized sometime in October, so be sure to check our blogs for any update.