Home Health Value Kit: The Human, Clinical and Fiscal Value of the Skilled Medicare Home Health Benefit

We are pleased to release a new Home Health Value Kit: a guide that provides comprehensive information on the value of the Medicare home health benefit. Home healthcare provides clinically advanced, cost effective post-acute and chronic care management in the setting patients desire most – their home. So it’s critical for lawmakers, their staff, and other stakeholders to understand the benefits it has for patients, taxpayers and the Medicare program. Continue reading for a quick look into the kit and the information it offers:

Overview

This kit contains thorough information regarding home healthcare, from details about what home health care is, who receives it, information about the Partnership, and an outline of the human, clinical and fiscal value of the Medicare home healthcare benefit. You can also learn more about how you can support and empower the senior population through Bring The Vote Home, a national initiative designed to collect seniors’ opinions on a wide range of issues while simultaneously empowering both seniors and disabled Americans to engage fully in America’s electoral process.

Quick Facts

Human Value of Home Health

Home health patients are older, poorer and sicker than the Medicare population as a whole:

• 4% of home health Medicare beneficiaries are older than 85
• 2% live with five or more chronic conditions
• 2% live at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty level

Clinical Value of Home Health

Patients in high quality home health and home-based care programs experience:

• 26% fewer acute care hospitalizations
• 59% fewer hospital bed days
• A total of 19-30% savings in medical costs

Fiscal Value of Home Health

Skilled home healthcare is widely recognized as cost effective:

• Medicare saves an average of $5,411 if home healthcare is the first post-acute setting utilized after a patient receives major joint replacement.
• The average cost of care in a skilled nursing facility is $449 per day or $26,940 for a 60-day stay compared to $2,674 for a 60-day home health episode.

Want to learn more?

To view the kit in its entirety, click here.