House calls are making a comeback—in a way. Insurers and retailers are now buying home health companies to expand into in-home care. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) and at-home diagnostic tests are helping to boost these efforts. Up to $265 billion in care services for traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries could migrate from traditional facilities to the home by 2025, per McKinsey & Company. Expect more big brands to move in.

Retailers and Insurers Are Racing to Consumers’ Front Doors

Home is healthcare’s new frontier. Providing in-home care can reduce costs related to emergency room visits, decrease hospital readmissions, and even speed recovery time. Over the past year, big companies—including retailers like Amazon—have spent billions to stake a claim in the home healthcare market.

Baby boomers looking to “age in place” will be prime candidates for in-home healthcare. By 2030, all of the nearly 70 million boomers (now 58 to 76 years old) will be 65 or older, with the oldest close to 85. Most will be using some form of Medicare for their health coverage.

In-home healthcare brands are poised for expansion, thanks to their preexisting connections with MA patients:

• One Medical (which offers 24/7 remote care and was acquired by Amazon) reported that capitated contracts in MA plans made up 50% of its Q3 2022 net revenues, even though MA members comprise only 5% of its total membership.
• CVS Health/Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealth Group—three recent acquirers of in-home healthcare brands—collectively manage 16 million patients who receive MA benefits, per analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That accounts for more than half of all MA enrollment in 2022.
• And in October 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated a 0.7% increase in Medicare payments to home health companies in 2023—versus the proposed 4.4% cut.