Change of ownership in home health agencies may lead to increased Medicare spending and reduced staffing levels

Medical Xpress November 4, 2024
Deborah Mann Lake, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Medicare-certified home health agencies, which are key to allowing older adults to age in place, are increasingly going through ownership changes, raising concerns about health care spending, workforce, and quality of care, according to a study by UTHealth Houston.

The research was published in JAMA Health Forum.

“The ownership change in health care sectors—including various forms of acquisitions by health systems, insurers, private equity firms, and other corporate investors—is increasingly reshaping the U.S. health care system and causing concerns about quality of care,” said Yucheng Hou, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.

“Some types of the ownership changes, such as private equity firms’ acquisition of health care...

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