New proposed reimbursement rules sent Kindred Healthcare and other home health stocks plunging, but it is necessary?
Well, the home healthcare industry got hit with a jolt last week with proposed new reimbursement rules. The news sent Kindred Healthcare’s shares down 15%, which especially hurt since they are completing their exit from the skilled nursing business, and home health and hospice is taking on an increasingly important role at the company. What I find extremely annoying is that, on the one side, the government and elder care advocates continue to push for at-home supports and services, and just as health care providers are gearing up for it, the government seems to take away any incentive for providers to expand in the area. Have there been problems with Medicaid and Medicare fraud in the home health sector? Unfortunately, all too much, but that is separate from honest providers being paid appropriately to provide care and services that are needed. Payers can’t have it both ways, and something will have to give. The reality is that what is going to have to give is more personal responsibility and less reliance on government programs. I know, what have I been smoking? But growth in federal and state spending is unsustainable. And you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
