All Florida Home Health’s Long-Term Care Receives 4.5-Star Quality Rating
By Space Coast Daily // December 3, 2019
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded All Florida Home Health a 4.5-star quality rating. All Florida Home Health is ranked within the top 20% of agencies offering home health nationwide.
The company offers a range of services, including multiple therapy offers, homemakers, home health aids and post-discharge care for seniors.
Floridians are in a unique position, with over 25% of residents being 60 years or older. Roughly more than 5.5 million people in the state fall into this age group.
Residents are calling for lawmakers in the state to put more focus on long-term care, as more people require care in the state. Nationwide, 70% of seniors will require some form of long-term care during their lifetime.
The State of Florida aims to keep seniors in their homes for as long as possible, and All Florida Home Health allows for longer at-home care with specialized treatment and care options for residents.
Florida lawmakers are under increasing pressure to change policies as the population continues to age. Medicaid rates have not been increased for five years.
The rates reimburse nursing homes, but the rates have remained stagnant. Nursing homes have been able to improve their care and quality despite increasing regulations and a lack of Medicaid reimbursement rate increases to match the rising rate of inflation.
The lack of rate increases are expected to weigh on the industry, which has done exceptionally well to improve quality and access to care under decreasing budgets.
Waitlists also remain a concern, with many seniors on a waitlist to receive the home support and in-home care they need. The funding has barley remained at adequate levels, keeping many seniors without the care they need. A lot of seniors forced to go into nursing homes because of the long waitlist for in-home care.
Homemaker and home health aide costs have risen 7.14% and 4.55% respectively in the last year. Nationwide, the annual cost for a homemaker has risen to $51,480 and home health aide costs have increased to $52,624 annually.
Florida’s hands-off homemaker services cost $48,048 annually, with about 44 hours of work per week. The cost is up over 5.26% in the last 12-month period. Hands-on homemaker services have had their prices increases by 7.32% to $50.336 per year.
Aging in place is the ideal option for many seniors that prefer to remain in their homes rather than go into a long-term care facility in the latter years of life.
