HomeCare News

WASHINGTON—False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for 2025 exceeded $6.8 billion, according to a recent report. The Barnes & Thornburg 2025 Healthcare Enforcement and Compliance Annual Report highlighted that the recoveries, which are funds returned to the United States government through lawsuits—mostly whistleblower-initiated qui tam actions—against individuals or companies defrauding federal programs, was the highest in a single year in the history of the FCA.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Permobil, a manufacturing company of assistive mobility solutions, announced the appointment of Ana Lopez as chief operating officer (COO), effective April 15. Lopez will join Permobil’s global leadership team and lead the company’s end-to-end supply chain.

BEVERLY, Massachusetts—Inogen, Inc., a medical technology company offering respiratory products for use in the homecare setting, announced the appointment of Vafa Jamali as an independent director to the Inogen board of directors, effective on the date of the company’s 2026 annual meeting, or June 15th if earlier.

CONCORD, New Hampshire—Granite VNA, New Hampshire’s non-profit home health and hospice agency, has promoted Nicholas Heafield to homecare manager and hired Tammy Martel as hospice community manager. Heafield previously served as a staff physical therapist and Martel served as a community hospice nurse. Martel was hired from Presidential Oaks in Concord.

WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), through the CMS Innovation Center, announced that organizations participating in certain Innovation Center models may begin offering a new Substance Access Beneficiary Engagement Incentive (BEI) starting April 1, 2026. Through this optional incentive, eligible hemp-derived products can be incorporated into patient care plans under clinician guidance, consistent with model requirements and applicable law.

ROCKLIN, California—Always Best Care Senior Services, a provider of non-medical in-home senior care and assisted living referral services, announced an expansion by franchisee Samantha Loy, who has broadened her operations across North Carolina through both market growth and the acquisition of additional territories.

DES MOINES, Iowa—ViClarity announced the first in a series of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled capabilities. Reg Monitor is an enhancement to the regtech company’s quality and compliance management software designed to help compliance leaders across long-term and home-based care organizations keep pace with fast-moving regulatory change.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama—Small durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers are being unfairly painted as the main culprit in fraud, waste and abuse, according to industry experts who spoke at a recent webinar. A webinar hosted by MiraVista featured a panel of experts in reimbursement, health care law, insurance contracting, billing and accreditation who discussed the growing pressure on small DME suppliers and why the independent model still matters.

NEW YORK—Arya Health, an AI company that helps home health care and post-acute care providers automate scheduling, compliance and other administrative operations, released results from its partnership with Connect Pediatrics, a pediatric home health care provider. Arya said the collaboration delivered gains across scheduling, recruiting and clinician re-engagement; all without proportional increases in administrative staff.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa—OneroRx, an integrated pharmacy serving underserved markets, announced it has completed its acquisition of 14 NuCara pharmacies and 10 home medical equipment locations in Iowa and Minnesota, bringing its total to 91 locations across eight Midwest states, employing more than 1,000 team members.

OneroRx operates as the largest franchisee of the Medicap Pharmacy brand owned by Cardinal Health. 

DALLAS—Axxess has announced that Olli Health has been named its first Elite Network Partner. Olli Health is a platinum leadership sponsor of the Axxess Growth, Innovation and Leadership Experience (AGILE) conference being held May 4-6 in Dallas.

HUDSON VALLEY, New York—Angels on Call Homecare, a provider of specialized dementia and Parkinson's care delivered through aging-in-place and live-in care models, has launched Angels Embrace, a free community support group initiative designed to provide education, connection and emotional support for individuals and families impacted by neurodegenerative conditions.

RICHMOND, Virginia—Senior Helpers, a national provider of in-home senior care services, announced it is the first private duty in-home care provider in the United States to be Age-Friendly Care at Home certified by Community Health Accreditation Partners (CHAP). In March, locally owned Senior Helpers of Richmond and Greater Richmond joined the list of Senior Helpers CHAP Age-Friendly Care at Home Certified locations.

NORTHFIELD, Illinois—Medline has launched a fulfillment system called Pick Pack Pro at its distribution center in Montgomery, N.Y., to support its health plan customers, including providers that administer Medicare benefits. Medline said it engineered Pick Pack Pro to help with orders that are pulled from a smaller range of products at high order volumes.

WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing an additional change to the durable medical equipment, prosthetics & orthotics services competitive bidding program (DMEPOS CBP).

WASHINGTON—A recent white paper published by the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., suggested a new approach to reimagining the path for older Americans to age in place. The paper specifically proposes a new homecare benefit under Medicare for beneficiaries with significant functional impairments who require long-term supports and services (LTSS).

TEMPLE TERRACE, Florida—Chapters Health System, a nonprofit advanced illness and hospice organization, announced that Chief People Officer Nikki Romence, has been named one of Becker's Hospital Review's "140 Hospital and Health System CHROs and Chief People Officers to Know" for 2026.

TAMPA, Florida—Tampa General Hospital (TGH) has announced it is launching the TGH Crystal River's Hospital at Home program, which provides patients living in Citrus County to receive care in the comfort of their own home. TGH Crystal River's Hospital at Home program gives eligible patients the opportunity to stay home while receiving best-in-class clinical hospital care.

FORT MYERS, Florida—Merits Health Products has announced the restart of production and global distribution of the Motivation wheelchair product range, restoring access to mobility solutions relied upon by rehabilitation providers, humanitarian organizations and adaptive sports programs around the world.

WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule that would increase Medicare hospice payments by 2.4% for fiscal year 2027 and also create a new public scoring system for hospices.