Health Systems Exit Hospital-at-Home Despite Medicare Extension

Three health systems have discontinued or plan to end their hospital-at-home programs in 2026, according to Becker's Hospital Review, a notable retreat given that Congress just extended federal support for the model.

Lawmakers extended the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative through Sept. 30, 2030, which lets eligible hospitals deliver inpatient-level acute care in patients' homes and bill Medicare for it. The waiver program, launched during the pandemic, was designed to free up hospital beds and give patients an alternative to a traditional inpatient stay. The multi-year extension was meant to give operators the runway to invest with confidence.

That some systems are exiting anyway points to the real barriers: the staffing, logistics, and technology required to monitor and treat acutely ill patients at home are expensive and complex. For many hospitals, the reimbursement and patient volumes have not justified the operational lift, even with the federal green light now secured for several more years.