Home Healthcare Services NAICS 621610

Jan 2, 2026 - Increasing Nursing Home Stay Costs may Boost Demand For Home Healthcare

• The average annual cost of a nursing home stay in 2024 was between $111,325 ($9,150 monthly) for a shared room and $127,750 ($10,500 monthly) for a private room, according to the American Council on Aging. Lower-cost home healthcare services may benefit if nursing homes become unaffordable for many people. The expense of long-term care is quietly turning into a financial crisis for countless families, according to Jeremy Gurewitz, co-founder and patient advocate at Solace Health, a patient-advocate health organization. One in five US adults, about 53 million individuals, is a caregiver to an aging family member, according to AARP. For them, the average annual out-of-pocket expense for their caregiving activities is $7,200. The rising cost of nursing homes leaves adult children suddenly facing a gap they never budgeted for, scrambling to coordinate resources while balancing their own mortgages, children’s education, and retirement planning, Gurewitz said.
• Home-based care providers are facing reimbursement challenges on multiple fronts, according to Home Health Care News. The 2026 home health final payment rule, Medicaid funding cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill and more have companies increasing their advocacy efforts, leaning into their strengths to navigate choppy reimbursement waters, and considering layoffs, according to Home Health Care News. Healthview CEO Steven Gonzalez told Home Health Care News that he is aware of the dangers of a 1.3% cut to home health payments. This is why the company spent time advocating on behalf of the industry on Capitol Hill in August 2025. CMS estimates that total Medicare payments to home health agencies will decrease by $220 million in 2026 compared to 2025, a net reduction of 1.3%. This reflects a 2.4% payment update offset by multiple downward adjustments, including permanent and temporary behavioral offsets and outlier recalibrations.

• Legislation ending the federal government shutdown will extend Medicare coverage of telehealth services through January 30, 2026, and will pay retroactively for services rendered during the shutdown. The COVID-era federal government program that expanded access to telehealth expired on September 30, 2025. The program lost funding when lawmakers failed to pass a budget plan by September 30, 2025. Restrictions on who could get telehealth services covered by Medicare were tighter before the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual healthcare appointments were mostly reserved for beneficiaries living in rural areas, provider facilities in rural areas, or those working with certain types of providers. Some pandemic-driven changes were permanent but others rely on temporary waivers to operate. Some of these temporary allowances included the ability to use telehealth services from anywhere without geographic restrictions, to have appointments in audio-only formats, and to receive mental health and behavioral healthcare virtually without regular in-person appointments.
• Home healthcare industry employment decreased slightly and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first eight months of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Home healthcare services increased prices slightly during the first eight months of 2025, according to the BLS. Industry sales are forecast to increase at a 6.44% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.