Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAH) continues its efforts with authorities and most popular payers.

“Whereas we proceed to function in a difficult labor and inflation atmosphere, our most popular payer technique permits us to return to a extra normalized progress price throughout our enterprise segments,” Aveanna CEO Jeff Shaner stated Thursday through the firm's earnings name the corporate within the third quarter.

Aveanna, based mostly in Atlanta, supplies in-home care to kids and seniors in 33 states. The segments embody personal nursing, dwelling care, hospice and medical options.

Shaner famous that he was optimistic about Aveanna's progress on numerous the corporate's price enchancment initiatives, each with authorities and most popular payers. He additionally talked about that the labor market was bettering.

One in every of Aveanna's key targets for 2024 was to execute our legislative technique to enhance reimbursement charges in a number of states, with a give attention to Georgia, Massachusetts and California. These states represented roughly 15% of the corporate's personal providers revenues.

Within the second quarter, Aveanna delivered double-digit price enhancements in Georgia and Massachusetts.

“These states reveal our authorities affairs technique to work with governors of state legislatures to establish personal sector nurse wage gaps and align reimbursement charges to enhance entry to look after sufferers with advanced medical circumstances,” stated Shaner. “We’re experiencing accelerated traits in supplier hiring, affected person discharges from kids's hospitals, and improved staffing ranges in each Georgia and Massachusetts.”

Thus far, Aveanna has secured 12 state price will increase for personal providers.

Regardless of these wins, California stays a difficult financing panorama for Aveanna.

“We’re dedicated to advocating for California's kids with advanced medical circumstances, and won’t cease till an acceptable curiosity funding is achieved,” Shaner stated. “We’ve a confirmed observe file of increasing our most popular payer applications, and can proceed to reinforce our efforts in California, just like our strategy in different states.”

Aveanna's different main objective for 2024 was to extend the variety of most popular payer agreements from 14 to 22. The corporate added seven for a complete of 21.

“Aveanna Most popular Payer's technique is gaining momentum and permits us to spend money on supplier wages and recruitment efforts to speed up the recruitment and staffing of nurses for our sufferers,” Shaner stated.

Within the third quarter, the corporate's most popular payer agreements accounted for about 47% of whole residential MCO volumes, in comparison with 45% within the second quarter.

Through the name, Aveanna additionally mentioned the ultimate fee rule for dwelling look after 2025.

“We, like our colleagues, aren’t shocked, however disenchanted by CMS's continued incapacity to actually handle the momentary and long-term hangover from the PDGM clawback,” Shaner stated. “Nevertheless, our mannequin uniquely units us aside from the trade and has discovered a means to achieve success below the present compensation construction.”

Total, Aveanna reported third-quarter income of $509 million, up 6.5% from $478 million in the identical interval final yr.

The corporate's personal providers phase introduced in $409 million, up 6.4% in comparison with $384 million within the third quarter of 2023. The house well being and hospice phase got here in at $54.1 million, up 2.2 % in comparison with $52.9 million in the identical interval final yr. .