The adult day care industry growth slowed during the recent economic slowdown. However, the Affordable Care Act through an increase in private health insurance coverage is expected to generate increased funding for this sector. Recovery in disposable income levels will also spur growth as households will be better able to afford the services again.
What is Adult Day Care? Services provided during normal business hours at a center (not the home) include social and basic health assistance, including transportation, meals, personal hygiene and therapeutic activities, to the elderly and individuals with mental or physical disabilities.
Active Day/Senior Care, Inc., a Clearview Capital portfolio company, stands tall in the roughly $6B highly fragmented market adult day care industry. The company created by the 2011 merger of Active Day and Senior Care Centers of America is the largest adult day service provider in the U.S. The company operates 75 centers in 11 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina.
The latest Active Day/Senior Care branded center is in New Jersey with the early March acquisition of a well-established center in Brick. Acquisition is likely to remain a key component of the company's growth strategy. >>Read more
Premier Immediate Medical Care expects to benefit from the Affordable Care Act with an influx of newly insured patients. Dr. Edward Silverman, owner of Premier, will be ready as he expands within his key market areas. Currently, his 9 offices serve communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware. Winter and Spring will mark the opening of additional centers in the Philadelphia area (Plymouth Meeting - #10 and Villanova) with the convenient hours of "9 to 9". >>Read more
Medicare recently released its proposed fees for healthcare professionals scheduled to take effect January 1, 2014. As expected, there were winners and losers…a few are noted below but Click here to learn how others will be affected.
Winners
Physical / Occupational therapists… +1%
Family practitioners…+1%
Chiropractors…+2%
ER physicians…+2%
Losers
Dermatologists…-1 to -2%
Radiologists… -1 to -2%
Pathology specialists…-5%
Radiation therapy centers…-13%
American consumers have apparently enjoyed the convenience
of retail clinics since they began appearing in pharmacies, supermarkets and
malls in 2000.
A follow-up study recently released by Health Affairs provides an indication of the growth of patient
visits to US retail clinics. Using
data from the 3 largest clinic operators (Minute Clinic, Take Care, Little
Clinic), the study reveals that customer retail visits between 2007-2009 grew from 1.48M to 5.97M.
Other findings include:
- 64.5% did not have a
primary care physician
- Majority of customers had insurance (70.5%)
- 44.4% of visits occurred when physician offices were
closed
- Visits by age 64+ customers doubled vs. the
initial study
According to study co-authors, Ateev Mehrotra and Judith Lave:
“It will be interesting to track
demand at retail clinics after the Affordable Care Act is implemented…if wait
times for appointments with primary care physicians increase nationwide, demand
for the clinics might increase.”
On the heels of the Wellpoint acquisition announcement of Amerigroup, Aetna has agreed to buy Coventry Health Care Inc. in a deal expected to close mid-2013.
"Integrating Coventry into Aetna will complement our strategy to expand our core insurance business, increase our presence in the fast-growing government sector and expand our relationships with providers in local geographies," according to Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna's chief executive.
The acquisition is expected to increase Aetna's share of government business to more than 30% from 23%. >>Read more
Unless you've been under a rock, you know that the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in late June. Analysts expect the ruling to spur consolidation of health care companies looking to cash in on an increase in Medicaid enrollment. Wellpoint led the way with its $4.9B acquisition of Amerigroup. Antoine Gara's article (Health Care: Obamacare M&A Trumps Weak Earnings Outlook) suggests Humana, Cigna, Aetna and UnitedHealth could follow suit. Recent comments regarding Centene may have elevated it to the takeover target frontrunner.
