A new presidential administration means new players and new perspectives on how home-based care can play a role in the $5 trillion healthcare industry. A panel discussion at the 2025 Axxess Growth, Innovation and Leadership Experience (AGILE) brought together care at home industry veterans to share insights on navigating this changing landscape.
Moderated by Axxess Senior Vice President of Public Policy Deborah Hoyt, the panel featured National Alliance for Care at Home CEO Dr. Steve Landers, Carezzi Founder and CEO Jennifer Sheets, Home Assist Health President and CEO Sara Wilson, and Frontpoint Health CEO Brent Korte.
Proving the Value of Home-Based Care
A key theme in the discussion was the importance of data-driven storytelling in home-based care expansion, increased access to care, and reduced regulatory burdens.
“We’ve got the movement that can transform healthcare,” Landers said. “Care at home can change the trajectory of our country – the costs and quality issues, the issues that families are facing – and the thing that we have to do in a collaborative way more than anything else is tell the story. We have to make sure that our policymakers understand and have data and also have stories and examples in their home communities about how care at home changes people’s lives, supports families, gives them what they need and at the same time creates value and saves the system money.”
Sheets agreed, stating, “Data wins arguments. Policymakers want evidence, so we have to find a better way to pull together our clinical outcomes, our patient satisfaction, [and] our impact to the overall healthcare dollar spend.”
Landers encouraged the audience to follow the National Alliance for Care at Home on LinkedIn to stay informed on advocacy updates and opportunities to make their voices heard.
Medicare Advantage Partnerships
Landers cited partnerships with Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations as another critical factor in accelerating home-based care in the U.S.
“Medicare Advantage should be [an] incredible partner with care at home,” said Landers. “I’ve been in this [industry] for 20 years on a lot of different levels, and for the life of me, I don’t understand how it is that the partnership isn’t stronger. We have health plans that are responsible for the total cost and the outcomes of care for a population of people, and we have care at home providers who have the skilled boots on the ground. … This should be a partnership made in heaven.”
Korte emphasized that strong patient outcomes are a necessary but partial condition of successful MA partnerships, indicating that a foundational readiness to accept and provide optimal care to MA patients is key.
“Outcomes are really an entrance to a relationship and a fortifier of ongoing work with each MA plan,” said Korte. “[Start] with the question of, ‘Are you positioned to say yes to Medicare Advantage patients and provide as good of care?’ and if the answer to that is yes, then I think you’re well-positioned for the future.”
The Impact of Regulatory Reform on Medicaid
Wilson discussed the potential impact of regulatory reform on Medicaid growth and sustainability, expressing hope for the rollback of a new provision in the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services Final Rule.
“Right now, there [are] several significant implications for Medicaid growth and sustainability,” said Wilson. “One I am hopeful for is some rollback of the Medicaid Access Rule specific to the payment adequacy provision, which would require an 80/20 payment model for all Medicaid home care providers doing these services. That oversight and regulation would cripple the industry, so we’re closely monitoring that in hopes that it does unwind. However, there are some quality standards that have been written in that Medicaid Access Rule that could really bolster the home care industry. It could help us gather that important data and quality measure sets that we can report out … to really prove our value and our worth within the care continuum.”
She also expressed concerns about the impact of ongoing budget reform on Medicaid.
“We’re also very mindful of the budget reform that is going on right now … which would directly impact the growth of Medicaid,” Wilson said. “There [are] restrictions going on in the healthcare space, not only budgetarily but policy-driven. … We have to, as home care providers, be stewards in helping people pursue and live healthier lifestyles, helping individuals understand the implications of their disease, have early interventions, provide at-home education [and] cultural alignment. … When we do that, we will not only position ourselves against all these different policy reforms but we will have evidence that we can advocate back and say, ‘This is why you need to invest in these programs.’”
The Role of Technology
As the conversation turned to technology’s role in home-based care, Landers analyzed the financial burden imposed by inefficiencies in current healthcare documentation practices.
“We’ve got so many people spending so much time clicking and screen-swiping,” Landers said. “When you [think] about healthcare being a $5-trillion part of the economy, imagine how much of our GDP is going into just people spending time with some of these tasks.”
The panelists explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in driving meaningful change, with Korte highlighting its value in simplifying various organizational challenges. He suggested organizations considering AI integration might start by asking themselves, “What is our biggest problem and who seems like the most trusted leader out there who can solve it?”
With emerging technologies poised to transform the healthcare landscape, Sheets emphasized the continued need for a unified industry voice that prioritizes the patient experience.
“We need a strong, united voice in this industry,” Sheets said. “We need to make sure that every conversation is focused with the patient at the center because, in all reality, their experience [is] the biggest change agent we have.”
Follow Axxess on LinkedIn for important policy updates and join us at AGILE 2026, May 4-6 in Dallas, to be part of the conversation shaping the future of care at home. Click here to register.