Kindred to Acquire Home Health Care Provider

IntegraCare also has strong information technology, clinical and management systems that should help accelerate growth at the Kindred home health and hospice division, Diaz says.

In a description of possible risk factors, Kindred emphasizes that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or efforts to kill PPACA could cause problems.

PPACA is affecting some Kindred businesses, and moves to change, delay or kill PPACA could interfere with provisions that otherwise could expand access to health coverage, Kindred says.

Due, further, to uncertainty about how the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other agencies will implement PPACA and other state and federal laws, "the company cannot predict which healthcare initiatives will be implemented at the federal or state level, the timing of any such reforms, or the effect such reforms or any other future legislation or regulation will have on the company's business, financial position, results of operations and liquidity,"  Kindred says.

CMS has been trying to reduce Medicare reimbursement for long-term acute care hospitals, and it also has reduced Medicare reimbursement for skilled nursing services and changed group therapy reimbursement rates, Kindred says.

If Congress fails to act on the Budget Control Act of 2011, automatic "sequestration" cuts could lead to an automatic 2% reduction on each claim submitted to Medicare starting Feb. 1, 2013, the Kindred says.