EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 785161
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 785161_10-K_2021_0000785161-21-000006.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1.Business.
Overview of the Company
General
We are a leading provider of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based patient care through our network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies. As of December 31, 2020, our national footprint spans 39 states and Puerto Rico and includes 137 hospitals and 241 home health and 82 hospice locations. We are committed to delivering high-quality, cost-effective integrated patient care.
Effective January 1, 2018, we changed our corporate name from HealthSouth Corporation to Encompass Health Corporation and the NYSE ticker symbol for our common stock from “HLS” to “EHC.” Our principal executive offices are located at 9001 Liberty Parkway, Birmingham, Alabama 35242, and the telephone number of the principal executive offices is (205) 967-7116. Our website address is www.encompasshealth.com.
On December 9, 2020, we announced a formal process to explore strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business. A range of options are under consideration, including the full or partial separation of the home health and hospice business from Encompass Health through an initial public offering, spin-off, merger, sale or other transaction. No timetable has been established for the completion of the strategic review.
In addition to the discussion here, we encourage the reader to review Item 1A, Risk Factors, Item 2, Properties, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, which highlight additional considerations about our company.
We manage our operations in two operating segments which are also our reportable segments: (1) inpatient rehabilitation and (2) home health and hospice. The table below provides selected operating and financial data for our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies. See Note 19, Segment Reporting, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for detailed financial information for each of our segments.
As of or for the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Consolidated data: (Actual Amounts)
Inpatient rehabilitation:
Number of hospitals (1)
137 133 130
Discharges 181,897 186,842 179,846
Number of licensed beds 9,505 9,249 8,966
Home health and hospice:
Number of home health locations (2)
241 245 220
Home health episodic admissions 158,912 159,727 137,396
Number of hospice locations 82 83 58
Hospice admissions 12,878 10,452 7,474
Net operating revenues: (In Millions)
Inpatient $ 3,496.1 $ 3,423.5 $ 3,247.9
Outpatient and other 70.1 89.5 98.3
Total inpatient rehabilitation
3,566.2 3,513.0 3,346.2
Home health 877.6 918.0 814.6
Hospice 200.6 174.0 116.5
Total home health and hospice
1,078.2 1,092.0 931.1
Net operating revenues $ 4,644.4 $ 4,605.0 $ 4,277.3
(1) The amounts as of December 31, 2018 include one hospital operating as a joint venture, which we accounted for using the equity method of accounting. As a result of an amendment to the joint venture agreement related to this hospital, the accounting for it changed from the equity method to consolidated effective July 1, 2019.
(2) These amounts include one, two and two locations as of December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively, which we account for using the equity method of accounting.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
We are the nation’s largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in terms of patients treated, revenues, and number of hospitals. We provide specialized rehabilitative treatment on predominantly an inpatient basis. We operate hospitals in 35 states and Puerto Rico, with concentrations in the eastern half of the United States and Texas. In addition to our hospitals, we manage four inpatient rehabilitation units through management contracts.
Our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals offer specialized rehabilitative care across an array of diagnoses and deliver comprehensive, high-quality, cost-effective patient care services. As participants in the Medicare program, our hospitals must be licensed and certified and otherwise comply with various requirements that are discussed below in the “Sources of Revenues-Medicare Reimbursement-Inpatient Rehabilitation” section. Substantially all (91%) of the patients we serve are admitted from acute care hospitals following physician referrals for specific acute inpatient rehabilitative care. Most of those patients have experienced significant physical and cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and a variety of debilitating neurological conditions, that are generally nondiscretionary in nature and require rehabilitative healthcare services in a facility-based setting. During the COVID-19 Pandemic (the “pandemic”), our hospitals have treated thousands of patients suffering or recovering from the COVID-19 virus. Our focus on specialized rehabilitative care also means that in many cases our hospitals are ideal settings for treating the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 virus, such as significant muscle weakness, cognitive impairments, shortness of breath with activity, and malnutrition. Our teams of highly skilled nurses and physical, occupational, and speech therapists utilize proven technology and clinical protocols with the objective of restoring our patients’ physical and cognitive abilities. Patient care is provided by nursing and therapy staff as directed by physician orders while case managers monitor each patient’s progress and provide documentation and oversight of patient status, achievement of goals, discharge planning, and functional outcomes. Our hospitals provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary clinical approach to treatment that leverages innovative technologies and advanced therapies and leads to superior outcomes.
Home Health and Hospice
Our home health business is the nation’s fourth largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services in terms of revenues. Our hospice business is the nation’s eighth largest provider of Medicare-certified hospice services in terms of revenues. We operate home health and hospice agencies in 31 states, with a concentration in the southern half of the United States. As participants in the Medicare program, our agencies must comply with various requirements that are discussed below in the “Sources of Revenues-Medicare Reimbursement-Home Health” and “-Hospice” sections. We acquired a significant portion of our home health and hospice business when we purchased EHHI Holdings, Inc. (“EHHI”) on December 31, 2014. In the acquisition, we acquired 83.3% of the issued and outstanding equity interests of EHHI, and certain members of EHHI management, including April Anthony, its chief executive officer, acquired the remaining interests. In March 2020, we acquired 100% ownership of EHHI. See Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further discussion of the history of the ownership structure of our home health and hospice business.
Our home health agencies provide a comprehensive range of Medicare-certified skilled home health services. These services include, among others, skilled nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, medical social work, and home health aide services. We also offer evidence-based specialty programs related to post-operative care, fall prevention, chronic disease management, and transitional care. Home health patients are frequently referred to us following a stay in an acute care or inpatient rehabilitation hospital or other facility, but many patients are referred from primary care settings and specialty physicians without a preceding inpatient stay. Our patients are typically older adults with three or more chronic conditions and significant functional limitations, and require greater than ten medications. As with our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, our home health agencies have treated thousands of patients suffering or recovering from COVID-19. Our teams of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical, speech and occupational therapists, medical social workers, and home health aides work closely with patients and their families and physicians to deliver patient-centered care plans focused on their needs and their goals.
We also provide hospice services to terminally ill patients and their families. These in-home services address patients’ physical needs, including pain control and symptom management, and provide emotional and spiritual support. Our hospice care teams consist of physician medical directors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, therapists, hospice aides, and volunteers.
COVID-19 Pandemic
The rapid onset of the pandemic in the United States has resulted in significant changes to our operating environment. The willingness and ability of patients to seek healthcare services have been negatively affected by restrictive measures, such as travel bans, social distancing, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders. Elective procedures have been postponed by physicians and acute care hospitals and limited by governmental order to preserve capacity for the expected volume of COVID-19 patients and reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19. Patients recovering from elective surgeries have historically represented approximately 15% of our home health admissions. While not a significant percentage of our inpatient rehabilitation population, we treat patients who are recovering from elective surgery with multiple comorbidities and qualify for inpatient rehabilitation care. Additionally, many in need of treatment for more severe medical conditions have chosen not to seek care because of fear of infection. We are also experiencing supply chain disruptions as a result of the pandemic, including increased time between ordering and receiving supplies. We have experienced and are likely to continue to experience significant price increases in medical supplies, particularly personal protective equipment (“PPE”). The federal government began to undertake numerous legislative and regulatory initiatives designed to provide relief to the healthcare industry during the pandemic as described below in the “Sources of Revenue-Medicare Reimbursement” section. These initiatives have provided enhanced flexibility to our hospitals and agencies to care for our patients and assist acute care hospitals in maintaining hospital capacity in the current environment. The pandemic is still rapidly evolving and much of its impact remains unknown and difficult to predict, with the impact on our operations and financial performance being dependent on numerous factors, including the ongoing nature of the pandemic, such as its rate of spread, duration, and geographic coverage; the rate and extent to which the virus mutates; the status of testing capabilities; the development, distribution, and administration of effective vaccines and other therapeutic remedies; the legal, regulatory, and administrative developments related to the pandemic at federal, state, and local levels, such as shelter-in-place orders, suspended services, and quarantines; and our infectious disease prevention and control efforts. For discussion of the financial and operational impacts we have experienced as a result the pandemic, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
In the continuously changing operating environment during the pandemic, we have taken the following steps to ensure the safety and well-being of our patients and employees:
ü staying current with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (the “CDC”) guidance on testing and the use of PPE, which is frequently updated;
ü working with our supply chain and securing secondary sources to ensure an adequate supply of PPE to protect our staff and patients;
ü acquiring testing devices;
ü limiting visitors in our hospitals;
ü screening everyone entering our hospitals and self-screening all home health and hospice employees;
ü performing pre-visit telephone calls to assess risk factors within the home, including patient and caregiver health status;
ü following social distancing recommendations in our therapy gyms and performing therapy in patient rooms, if needed;
ü changing hospital configurations to protect patients from potential exposure to the virus;
ü suspending most of the hospital-based outpatient services (we have resumed these services at some locations);
ü implementing work-at-home policies for many home office employees; and
ü halting all non-essential travel.
We have also taken actions to enhance our operational and financial flexibility and ensure our long-term sustainability. Members of our executive team voluntarily reduced their base compensation for six months. In addition, we:
ü amended our senior credit facility in April 2020 (primarily provided covenant relief due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic);
ü issued an additional $300 million of our 4.50% Senior Notes due 2028 and an additional $300 million of our 4.75% Senior Notes due 2030 in May 2020;
ü issued $400 million of 4.625% Senior Notes due 2031 in October 2020;
ü redeemed all $700 million in outstanding principal amount of the 5.75% Senior Notes due 2024 in November 2020; and
ü developed plans for reducing capital expenditures in the event liquidity concerns arise.
Competitive Strengths
We believe we differentiate ourselves from our competitors based on, among other things, the quality of our clinical outcomes, our cost-effectiveness, our financial strength, and our extensive application of technology. We also believe our competitive strengths discussed below give us the ability to adapt and succeed in a healthcare industry facing regulatory uncertainty around attempts to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
•People. We believe our employees share a steadfast commitment to providing outstanding care to our patients. We undertake significant efforts to ensure our clinical and support staff receives the education and training necessary to provide the highest quality care in the most cost-effective manner. We also have hospital staff trained for all patient acuity levels faced in the post-acute setting. We embrace the Encompass Health Way, our core set of values developed through input from a broad cross section of our employees. The Encompass Health Way calls on each of our employees to set the standard, lead with empathy, do what’s right, focus on the positive, and ensure we are stronger together. For further discussion of our human capital management, see the section titled “Human Capital Management” below.
•Change Agility. We have a demonstrated ability to adapt in the face of numerous and significant regulatory and legislative changes. In 2020, we rapidly moved to adapt our operations to the unprecedented pandemic. Additionally, while addressing the urgent challenges presented by the pandemic, both operating segments successfully managed through significant changes in their respective Medicare reimbursement systems in 2020.
•Strategic Relationships. We have a long and successful history of building strategic relationships with major healthcare systems. Approximately one-third of our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals currently operate as joint ventures with acute care hospitals or systems. Joint ventures with market leading acute care hospitals establish a solid foundation for providing integrated patient care that can improve the quality of outcomes and reduce the total cost of care.
Clinical collaboration between our hospitals and home health agencies in overlap markets offers an excellent means to improve patient experience and outcomes and reduce the total cost of care across a post-acute episode. We believe the benefits of collaboration are available in non-overlap markets as well. In 2020, we deployed a home health agency quality reporting tool to identify the highest quality clinical partners in all of our markets.
The post-acute innovation tools we have developed, and will continue to develop, support our strategic relationship initiatives by enhancing the effective and efficient management of patients across multiple post-acute care settings and facilitating high-quality patient care, improved care coordination, and network provider performance and cost management.
Additionally, we have a strategic sponsorship with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association on a nationwide basis to increase patient independence after a stroke and reduce stroke mortality through community outreach and information campaigns.
•Clinical Expertise and High-Quality Outcomes. We have extensive facility-based and home-based clinical experience from which we have developed standardized best practices and protocols. We believe these clinical best practices and protocols, particularly as leveraged with industry-leading technology, help ensure the delivery of consistently high-quality healthcare services, reduced inefficiencies, and improved performance across a spectrum of operational areas.
•Cost Effectiveness. Our size, data-driven business practices, and culture help us provide facility-based and home-based healthcare services on a cost-effective basis. We leverage our comprehensive IT capabilities and centralized administrative functions, identify best practices, utilize proven staffing models, and take advantage of supply chain efficiencies across our extensive platform of operations. Our information systems allow users to analyze data and trends and create custom reports on a timely basis. Additionally, our home-based healthcare services are part of the broader industry focus on reducing costs by delivering care, when clinically appropriate, in the significantly lower cost home setting.
•Financial Resources. We have a proven track record of generating strong cash flows from operations that have allowed us to successfully pursue our growth strategy, manage our financial leverage, and make significant shareholder distributions. As of December 31, 2020, we have a strong, well-capitalized balance sheet, including ownership of approximately 70% of our hospital real estate, no significant debt maturities prior to 2023, and
ample availability under our revolving credit facility, which along with the cash flows generated from operations should, we believe, provide sufficient support for our business strategy.
•Advanced Technology and Innovation. We are focused on developing technology-enabled real-time strategies for the next generation of integrated healthcare. Our post-acute innovation strategy is based on using our clinical expertise, our large post-acute datasets, and our proven capabilities in enterprise-level electronic medical record technologies, data analytics, data integration, and predictive analytics to drive value-based performance across the healthcare continuum for our patients, our partners, and our payors. We believe our information systems and post-acute innovation solutions, in addition to improving patient care and operating efficiencies, allow us to collect, analyze, and share information on a timely basis making us an ideal partner for other healthcare providers in a coordinated care delivery environment. Our systems also emphasize interoperability with referral sources and other providers coordinating care. We have devoted substantial resources, effort and expertise to leveraging technology to create post-acute solutions that improve patient care and operating efficiencies.
Patients and Demographic Trends
Demographic trends, such as population aging, should continue to increase long-term demand for the services we provide. While we treat patients of all ages, most of our patients are 65 and older, and the number of Medicare enrollees is expected to grow approximately 3% per year for the foreseeable future. Even more specifically, the average age of our patients is approximately 76, and the population group ranging in ages from 75 to 79 is expected to grow at approximately 5% per year through 2026. We believe the demand for the services we provide will continue to increase as the U.S. population ages. We believe these factors align with our strengths in, and focus on, post-acute services. In addition, we believe we can address the demand for facility-based and home-based post-acute care services in markets where we currently do not have a presence by constructing or acquiring new hospitals and by acquiring or opening home health and hospice agencies in those fragmented industries.
Strategy and 2021 Strategic Priorities
The following discussion of strategy and strategic priorities assumes the continuation of operations under a single ownership structure. If any change in our structure results from the ongoing strategic review, we will update our strategic priorities.
Our strategy is to expand our network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and home health and hospice locations, further strengthen our relationships with healthcare systems, provider networks, and payors in order to connect patient care across the healthcare continuum, and to deliver superior patient outcomes. We believe this strategy, along with our demonstrated ability to adapt to changes in healthcare, will position us for success in the evolving healthcare delivery system. In pursuit of our strategy, we established the following strategic priorities for 2021.
Growth. We will be targeting the addition of six to ten new inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and $50 million to $100 million in home health and hospice acquisitions per year. We also believe we will continue to have organic growth opportunities in our inpatient rehabilitation and home health and hospice segments based on our pre-pandemic track record of consistent growth in both segments, planned bed additions at a number of existing hospitals, and the maturation of acquired home health and hospice locations.
Operational Initiatives. Our priorities include operational initiatives that build on momentum from recent years. We will seek to continue to increase clinical collaboration in both overlap and non-overlap markets. We believe our clinical collaboration efforts have and will continue to contribute to reductions in discharges to skilled nursing facilities, higher discharges to community, and improved patient experience.
Given the significant number of stroke patients in need of post-acute care, we will continue working to build our stroke market share by leveraging our strategic sponsorship of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, the inpatient rehabilitation facility (“IRF”) treatment recommendations published by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Journal of the American Medical Association, our clinical collaboration, and our hospitals’ participation in The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification Program. As of December 31, 2020, 124 of our 137 hospitals held stroke-
specific certifications that required us to demonstrate effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize stroke care and an organized approach to performance measurement and evaluation of clinical outcomes.
We will also continue to develop and implement post-acute solutions that allow us to apply our clinical expertise, large post-acute datasets, electronic medical record technologies, and strategic partnerships to drive improved patient outcomes and lower the cost of care across the entire post-acute episode.
Capital Structure. We will seek to maintain balance sheet flexibility, consider opportunistic refinancings and augment returns from investments in operations with shareholder distributions via common stock dividends and repurchases of our common stock.
For additional discussion of our strategic priorities as well as our progress toward our priorities in 2021, including operating results, growth, and shareholder distributions, and our business outlook, see Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Executive Overview,” “Results of Operations,” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
Human Capital Management
Overview of Our Employees. In 2020, our employees made inspiring sacrifices and showed extraordinary dedication to providing outstanding patient care in our hospitals and in our patients’ homes across the country during the pandemic. As of December 31, 2020, we employed approximately 43,000 individuals. In the healthcare services sector, many professionals, such as nurses, desire flexible work arrangements. Accordingly, part-time and per diem employees represent a large percentage of our employee population. Except for 58 employees at one hospital (approximately 17% of that hospital’s workforce), none of our employees are represented by a labor union as of December 31, 2020. The chart below includes a breakdown of our employees by segment.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Home Health and Hospice
Total Employees 31,837 11,341
Full-time Employees 19,560 8,334
Part-time Employees 2,274 182
Pool/Per-diem Employees 10,003 2,825
In some markets, the shortage of clinical personnel is a significant operating issue facing healthcare providers. Shortages of nurses and other clinical personnel, including therapists, may, from time to time, require us to increase use of more costly temporary personnel, which we refer to as “contract labor,” and other types of premium pay programs. In order to recruit and retain those clinical employees, we maintain a total rewards program that we view as a combination of the tangible components of pay and benefits with the intangible components of a culture that encourages learning, development, and a supportive work environment. We believe our outstanding employee engagement scores, discussed below, evidence that our human capital management efforts have been successful. We also believe our recognition as one of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and the recognition of both our segments in Modern Healthcare’s “Best Places to Work” is further evidence of that success. We focus on the following strategic human capital imperatives:
•Maintaining competitive compensation and benefit programs that reward and recognize employee performance;
•Fostering a strong culture that values inclusion, diversity, and equity; and
•Emphasizing employee development and engagement to attract talent and reduce turnover.
Compensation and Benefits. Maintaining competitive compensation and benefit programs that reward and recognize employee performance furthers our goal to attract, retain, and motivate employees who will help us deliver high-quality patient care. We are also committed to providing comprehensive benefit options that will allow our employees and their families to live healthier and more secure lives. In our compensation and benefit programs:
•we provide employee wages that are competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, experience, knowledge and geographic location.
•we engage nationally recognized outside compensation and benefits consulting firms to independently evaluate the effectiveness of our compensation and benefit programs and to provide benchmarking against our peers within the industry and by specific market.
•we base annual increases and incentive compensation on merit, which is communicated to employees through our talent management process as part of our annual review procedures.
•all full-time and most part-time employees are eligible for health insurance, paid and unpaid leaves, a retirement plan, a wellness program, telemedicine, tuition reimbursement, an employee assistance program, and life and disability/accident coverage.
•we provide an employer match on retirement plan contributions.
•we also offer a wide variety of voluntary benefits that allow employees to select the options that meet their needs, including pre-paid legal services, dental insurance, vision insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, supplemental life insurance, disability insurance, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, auto/home insurance, and identity theft insurance.
•we have various short-term incentive plans for field leadership, most marketing/sales employees, and executives.
•we make annual grants of restricted stock to employees (approximately 340 in 2020) at various levels of non-executive management to foster a strong sense of ownership and align the interests of members of management with those of our stockholders.
In early April 2020, we initiated a program for eligible frontline employees to earn additional paid time off in recognition of their outstanding efforts during the pandemic. With more than 21,000 employees potentially benefiting from this additional paid time off, we accrued approximately $43 million in salary and benefits expense in the second quarter of 2020 in connection with this award. This program provided for cash-out at the end of the year for any unused balance of paid time off. Additionally, we waived the employee cost-share for COVID-19 testing and telehealth/telemedicine for any illness and allowed frontline employees to continue working and accrue paid time off without a maximum.
Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. We believe fostering a strong culture that values inclusion, diversity, and equity allows us to maintain a competitive advantage with recruiting and retaining employees. We maintain an inclusion and diversity program that is overseen by our human resources team at the home office. The program is also supported by an employee-led inclusion and diversity council that is comprised of a broad, cross-functional segment of our management and administration. The four components of our inclusion and diversity program are:
•Workforce development. Specific initiatives we are pursuing include, but are not limited to, a recruiting program that targets historically black colleges; funding nursing scholarships for diverse candidates; the launch of a new Encompass Health career site tool to help veterans find jobs that closely align with their specific skills; inclusion and diversity competency training for our employees; and policy reviews to incorporate language that supports inclusion and diversity.
•Patient experience. Specific initiatives we are pursuing include, but are not limited to, completion of a language assessment process to evaluate oral and written skills of employees who elect to serve as language translators and the addition of diversity questions to our annual employee engagement survey to assess our ability to provide culturally competent care to patients.
•Community partnership. Specific initiatives we are pursuing include, but are not limited to, launching a quarterly inclusion and diversity digest to better communicate our inclusion and diversity initiatives across our company; joining the National Association of Health Service Executives (“NAHSE”), an organization that promotes the advancement and development of minority healthcare leaders; participating in NAHSE’s minority male leadership academy; and participating in a regional working group of Alabama-based businesses convened to discuss and share diversity and recruiting best practices.
•Supplier diversity. We maintain a supplier base program that offers contracting opportunities with manufacturers, distributors and service providers that are certified as minority-owned, veteran-owned and small disadvantage-owned businesses, and we are researching diverse supplier certifying organizations.
We have undertaken other initiatives to emphasize the importance of inclusion and diversity. We participate in the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Pledge. This coalition of more than 1,000 chief executive officers is dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Every three to five years, we engage a third party consulting agency to help us evaluate our program and explore possible enhancements. We then provide the feedback to our board of directors. In response to societal concerns regarding systemic racism and social injustice in 2020, we produced and published a
series of video conversations with various employees and members of executive management in order to highlight personal experience with prejudice and injustice and to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Employee Development and Engagement. We believe promoting employee development and engagement furthers our ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment where staffing shortages are not uncommon. We track and measure therapist and nurse turnover in our inpatient rehabilitation segment and overall turnover for our full-time employees in our home health and hospice segment (excluding those at new stores and most at the corporate office) on a quarterly and annual basis for significant trends and outliers, but we do not believe comparisons to benchmarks are material given the variations in survey data across markets, hospital sizes, practice settings, and practice specialties. The table below shows those turnover rates for 2020 and 2019.
2020 2019
Therapist (IRF) 5.3% 7.2%
Nurse (IRF) 23.0% 22.8%
Overall (HH&H) 26.7% 24.7%
We support the long-term career aspirations of our employees through education and personal development.
•Education opportunities. We offer our nurses an opportunity to advance their academic degrees at a reduced tuition rate of 20% to 50% of the total program cost. To date, approximately 850 of our nurses have taken advantage of this opportunity.
•Tuition reimbursement/scholarship programs. Employees also have the opportunity to advance their education through our tuition reimbursement and scholarship programs. We reimbursed over $1 million in tuition and paid over $3 million toward employees’ student loan debt in 2020.
•Academic endowments. We endowed five scholarships for deserving students from underrepresented groups pursuing degrees in nursing and allied health fields.
•Therapy grants. We fund research projects to investigate the impact and effectiveness of therapy in the inpatient rehabilitation and home health settings. In recent years, we have funded studies and research on topics ranging from caregiver education to the effectiveness of occupation-centered interventions. The program is open to qualified candidates, including employees.
•Other employee development programs:
*career ladders that offer paths to develop, demonstrate, and be rewarded for expanded responsibility in nursing, therapy and case management;
*online development library that provides access to a wide range of readily available internal and external content on many topics important for success in current or desired jobs;
*developing future leaders program that develops nurses and therapists for supervisory positions and develops nurse and therapy supervisors for higher level positions;
*leadership precepting that provides new leaders 6-12 months of structured mentoring from experienced, high-performing peers;
*leadership coaching that provides six months of executive coaching to high performing leaders;
*developing future chief nursing officers program that provides 12-18 months of intensive on-the-job experience to develop participants for future chief nursing officer job openings; and
*developing future chief executive officers program that provides 18-24 months of intensive on-the-job experience to develop participants for future hospital chief executive officer openings.
To further aid in employee development, we have invested money in best-in-class technology to offer on-demand learning and development programs, podcasts for our home health and hospice segment, and leadership coaching programs. Another important aspect of employee development is succession planning. We annually review our talent to identify potential successors for key positions and to identify candidates for accelerated development based on their performance and potential.
The annual process includes an assessment of each employee’s promotability based on a set of leadership core competencies defined as part of the company’s talent strategy.
We believe employee engagement is another important driver of employee retention. We conduct an annual employee engagement survey open to all of our employees. In 2020, 78% of our employees participated in the survey, which measures perceptions based on responses to 59 questions. In 2020, the average response to 93% of engagement questions surveyed exceeded healthcare benchmarks.
Competition
Inpatient Rehabilitation. The inpatient rehabilitation industry, outside of our leading position, is highly fragmented. Our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals compete primarily with rehabilitation units, most of which are within acute care hospitals, in the markets we serve. An acute care hospital, particularly one owned or operated by a large public company or not-for-profit that has a dominant position in the local market, can be a formidable competitor because 91% of our patients come from acute care hospitals. There are several privately held companies offering post-acute rehabilitation services that compete with us primarily in select geographic markets. In addition, there is a public company that is primarily focused on other post-acute care services, including approximately 1,700 outpatient clinics, but also operates approximately 29 freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. Other providers of post-acute care services compete for some rehabilitation patients. For example, nursing homes may market themselves as offering certain rehabilitation services, particularly to patients not in need of intensive rehabilitation therapy, even though those nursing homes are not required to offer the same level of care, and are not licensed, as hospitals. The primary competitive factors in any given market include the quality of care and service provided, the treatment outcomes achieved, the relationship and reputation with managed care and other private payors and the acute care hospitals, physicians, or other referral sources in the market, and the regulatory barriers to entry in certificate of need states. The ability to work as part of an integrated delivery payment model with other providers, including the ability to deliver quality patient outcomes and cost-effective care, could become an increasingly important factor in competition if a significant number of people in a market are participants in one or more of these models. See the “Regulation-Relationships with Physicians and Other Providers” and “Regulation-Certificates of Need” sections below for further discussion of some of these factors. For a list of our inpatient rehabilitation markets by state, see the table in Item 2, Properties.
Home Health and Hospice. The home health and hospice services industries are also highly competitive and fragmented. There are more than 11,300 home health agencies and more than 4,800 hospice agencies nationwide certified to participate in Medicare. We are the fourth largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services in the United States in terms of Medicare revenues. Our primary competition varies from market to market. Providers of home health and hospice services include both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. There are three other public healthcare companies with significant presences in the Medicare-certified home health industry, and one insurance company with a minority interest in the largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services. The primary competitive factors in any given market include the quality of care and service provided, the treatment outcomes achieved, the relationship and reputation with managed care and other private payors and the acute care hospitals, physicians, or other referral sources in the market, and the regulatory barriers to entry in certificate of need states. The ability to work as part of an integrated care delivery model with other providers could become an increasingly important factor in competition if a significant number of people in a market are participants in one or more of these models. As of January 1, 2021, our home health and hospice segment is collaborating with approximately 140 alternative payment models, including Next Generation Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”), MSSP ACOs, and Direct Contracting Models. Home health providers with scale, which include the other public companies, may have competitive advantages, including professional management, efficient operations, sophisticated information systems, brand recognition, and large referral bases. For a list of our home health and hospice markets by state, see the table in Item 2, Properties.
Regulatory and Reimbursement Challenges
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry facing many well-publicized regulatory and reimbursement challenges driven by escalating costs and the pursuit of better quality of care. The Medicare reimbursement systems for both inpatient rehabilitation and home health have recently undergone significant changes. The future of many aspects of healthcare regulation remains uncertain. Any regulatory or legislative changes impacting the healthcare industry ultimately may affect, among other things, reimbursement of healthcare providers, consumers’ access to coverage of health services, including among non-Medicare aged population segments within commercial insurance markets and Medicaid enrollees, and competition among providers. Changes may also affect the delivery of healthcare services to patients by providers and the regulatory compliance obligations associated with those services.
Successful healthcare providers are those able to adapt to changes in the regulatory and operating environments, build strategic relationships across the healthcare continuum, and consistently provide high-quality, cost-effective care. We believe
we have the necessary capabilities - change agility, strategic relationships, quality of patient outcomes, cost effectiveness, and ability to capitalize on growth opportunities - to adapt to and succeed in a dynamic, highly regulated industry, and we have a proven track record of doing so. For more in-depth discussion of the primary challenges and risks related to our business, particularly the changes in Medicare reimbursement, increased compliance and enforcement burdens, and changes to our operating environment resulting from healthcare reform, see “Sources of Revenues-Medicare Reimbursement” and “Regulation” below in this section as well as Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Executive Overview-Key Challenges.”
Sources of Revenues
We receive payment for patient care services from the federal government (primarily under the Medicare program), managed care plans and private insurers, and, to a considerably lesser degree, state governments (under their respective Medicaid or similar programs) and directly from patients. Revenues and receivables from Medicare are significant to our operations. The federal and state governments establish payment rates as described in more detail below. We negotiate the payment rates with non-governmental group purchasers of healthcare services that are included in “Managed care” in the tables below, including private insurance companies, employers, health maintenance organizations (“HMOs”), preferred provider organizations (“PPOs”), and other managed care plans. Patients are generally not responsible for the difference between established gross charges and amounts reimbursed for such services under Medicare, Medicaid, and other private insurance plans, HMOs, or PPOs but are responsible to the extent of any exclusions, deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance features of their coverage. Medicare, through its Medicare Advantage program, offers Medicare-eligible individuals an opportunity to participate in managed care plans. Revenues from Medicare and Medicare Advantage represent approximately 85% of total revenues.
The following tables identify the sources and relative mix of our revenues for the periods stated for each of our business segments:
Inpatient Rehabilitation
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Medicare 66.7 % 72.2 % 73.2 %
Medicare Advantage 15.3 % 10.7 % 9.2 %
Managed care 10.4 % 9.8 % 10.3 %
Medicaid 3.9 % 3.1 % 3.0 %
Other third-party payors 1.2 % 1.2 % 1.5 %
Workers' compensation 0.6 % 0.8 % 0.8 %
Patients 0.5 % 0.7 % 0.6 %
Other income 1.4 % 1.5 % 1.4 %
Total
100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Home Health and Hospice
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Medicare 83.1 % 84.2 % 85.3 %
Medicare Advantage 10.8 % 10.2 % 9.5 %
Managed care 4.4 % 3.6 % 3.6 %
Medicaid 1.4 % 1.7 % 1.2 %
Workers' compensation 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.2 %
Patients 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.1 %
Other income 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.1 %
Total
100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Medicare Reimbursement
Medicare is a federal program that provides hospital and medical insurance benefits to persons aged 65 and over, qualified disabled persons, and persons with end-stage renal disease. Medicare, through statutes and regulations, establishes reimbursement methodologies and rates for various types of healthcare providers, facilities, and services. Each year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”), an independent agency that advises the United States Congress on issues affecting Medicare, makes payment policy recommendations to Congress for a variety of Medicare payment systems including, among others, the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system (the “IRF-PPS”), the home health prospective payment system (the “HH-PPS”), and the hospice payment system (the “Hospice-PPS”). Congress is not obligated to adopt MedPAC recommendations, and, based on outcomes in previous years, there can be no assurance Congress will adopt MedPAC’s recommendations in a given year. However, MedPAC’s recommendations have, and could in the future, become the basis for subsequent legislative or, as discussed below, regulatory action.
The Medicare statutes are subject to change from time to time. For example, in March 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (as subsequently amended, the “2010 Healthcare Reform Laws”). In December 2018, a federal district court in Texas invalidated the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws in their entirety but postponed enforcement of that decision pending appeal. On December 18, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court decision but remanded the case for additional analysis on the question of severability. A group of state attorneys general subsequently appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, which heard oral arguments in November 2020 but has yet to rule. With respect to Medicare reimbursement, the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws provided for specific reductions to healthcare providers’ annual market basket updates and other payment policy changes. In August 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 providing for an automatic 2% reduction, or “sequestration,” of Medicare program payments for all healthcare providers. Sequestration took effect April 1, 2013 and, as a result of subsequent legislation, will continue through fiscal year 2029 unless Congress and the President take further action. In response to the public health emergency associated with the pandemic, Congress and the President suspended sequestration through March 31, 2021, as discussed further below.
On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “2018 Budget Act”), which includes several provisions affecting Medicare reimbursement. Among those changes, the 2018 Budget Act mandated the adoption of a new Medicare payment model for home health providers which went into effect January 1, 2020. In the future, concerns about the federal deficit and national debt levels could result in enactment of further federal spending reductions, further entitlement reform legislation affecting the Medicare program, or both. The future of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws as well as the nature and substance of any other healthcare legislation remain uncertain. Healthcare will almost certainly be the subject of significant regulatory and legislative changes under the Biden administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress.
From time to time, Medicare regulations, including reimbursement methodologies and rates, can be further modified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). CMS, subject to its statutory authority, may make some prospective payment system changes, including in response to MedPAC recommendations. For example, CMS instituted a rebasing adjustment in the HH-PPS consistent with a MedPAC recommendation. In some instances, CMS’s modifications can have a substantial impact on healthcare providers. In accordance with Medicare laws and statutes, CMS makes annual adjustments to Medicare payment rates in prospective payment systems, including the IRF-PPS and HH-PPS, by what is commonly known as a “market basket update.” CMS may take other regulatory action affecting rates as well. For example, under the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws, CMS requires IRFs to submit data on certain quality of care measures for the IRF quality reporting program. A facility’s failure to submit the required quality data results in a two percentage point reduction to that facility’s annual market basket increase factor for payments made for discharges in a subsequent Medicare fiscal year. IRFs began submitting quality data to CMS in October 2012. All of our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals have met the reporting deadlines to date resulting in no corresponding reimbursement reductions. Similarly, home health and hospice agencies are required to submit quality data to CMS each year, and the failure to do so in accordance with the rules will result in a two percentage point reduction in their market basket update. For 2021, we expect four of our home health and hospice agencies will incur a reduction in their reimbursement rates.
We cannot predict the adjustments to Medicare payment rates Congress or CMS may make in the future. Congress, MedPAC, and CMS will continue to address reimbursement rates for a variety of healthcare settings. Any additional downward adjustment to rates or limitations on reimbursement for the types of facilities we operate and services we provide could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. For additional discussion of the risks associated with our concentration of revenues from the federal government or with potential changes to the statutes or regulations governing Medicare reimbursement, including the 2018 Budget Act, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Executive Overview-Key Challenges.”
Although reductions or changes in reimbursement from governmental or third-party payors and regulatory changes affecting our business represent one of the most significant challenges to our business, our operations are also affected by other rules and regulations that indirectly affect reimbursement for our services, such as data coding rules and patient coverage rules and determinations. For example, Medicare providers like us can be negatively affected by the adoption of coverage policies, either at the national or local level, that determine whether an item or service is covered and under what clinical circumstances it is considered to be reasonable and necessary. Current CMS coverage rules require inpatient rehabilitation services to be ordered by a physician and be coordinated by an interdisciplinary team. The interdisciplinary team must meet weekly to review patient status and make any needed adjustments to the individualized plan of care. Qualified personnel must provide the rehabilitation nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, social services, psychological services, and prosthetic and orthotic services that may be needed. Medicare contractors processing claims for CMS make coverage determinations regarding medical necessity that can represent restrictive interpretations of the CMS coverage rules. Those interpretations are not made through a notice and comment review process. We cannot predict how future CMS coverage rule interpretations or any new local coverage determinations will affect us.
In the ordinary course, Medicare reimbursement claims made by healthcare providers, including inpatient rehabilitation hospitals as well as home health and hospice agencies, are subject to audit from time to time by governmental payors and their agents, such as the Medicare Administrative Contractors (“MACs”) that act as fiscal intermediaries for all Medicare billings, as well as the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (the “HHS-OIG”), CMS, and state Medicaid programs. In addition to those audits conducted by existing MACs, CMS has developed and instituted various Medicare audit programs under which CMS contracts with private companies to conduct claims and medical record audits. Some contractors are paid a percentage of the overpayments recovered. The Recovery Audit Contractors (“RACs”) conduct payment reviews of claims, which can examine coding, overall billing accuracy, and medical necessity. When conducting an audit, the RACs receive claims data directly from MACs on a monthly or quarterly basis.
CMS has also established Unified Program Integrity Contractors (“UPICs”), previously known as Zone Program Integrity Contractors, to perform fraud, waste, and abuse detection, deterrence and prevention activities for Medicare and Medicaid claims. Like the RACs, the UPICs conduct audits and have the ability to refer matters to the HHS-OIG or the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Unlike RACs, however, UPICs do not receive a specific financial incentive based on the amount of the payment errors they identify.
As a matter of course, we undertake significant efforts through training, education, and documentation to ensure compliance with coding and medical necessity coverage rules. Despite our belief that our coding and assessment of patients are accurate, audits may lead to assertions that we have been underpaid or overpaid by Medicare or that we have submitted improper claims in some instances. Audits may also require us to incur additional costs to respond to requests for records and defend the validity of payments and claims, and ultimately require us to refund any amounts determined to have been overpaid. We cannot predict when or how these audit programs will affect us. Any denial of a claim for payment, either as a result of an audit or ordinary course payment review by the MAC, is subject to an appeals process that is currently taking numerous years to complete. For additional discussion of these audits and the risks associated with them, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Executive Overview-Key Challenges.”
In response to the public health emergency associated with the pandemic, Congress and CMS adopted several statutory and regulatory measures intended to provide relief to healthcare providers in order to ensure patients would continue to have adequate access to care. On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”), which temporarily suspended sequestration for the period of May 1 through December 31, 2020. The CARES Act also authorized the cash distribution of relief funds from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to healthcare providers. We did not request any relief funds. However, on April 10, 2020, HHS began distributing CARES Act relief funds to various of our bank accounts. We refused the CARES Act relief funds, and our banks returned all the funds to HHS. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “2021 Budget Act”), signed into law on December 27, 2020, extends the sequestration suspension through March 31, 2021 and provides for additional provider relief funds. We intend to refuse any additional provider relief funds distributed in the future whether authorized under the CARES Act or the 2021 Budget Act. The CARES Act, the 2021 Budget Act, and CMS regulatory actions include a number of other provisions, which are discussed below, affecting our reimbursement and operations in both segments.
A basic summary of current Medicare reimbursement in our business segments follows:
Inpatient Rehabilitation. As discussed above, our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals receive a fixed payment reimbursement amount per discharge under the IRF-PPS based on the patient’s rehabilitation impairment category and other characteristics and conditions identified by the attending clinicians. In order to qualify for reimbursement under the IRF-PPS, our hospitals must comply with various Medicare rules and regulations including documentation and coverage requirements, or
specifications as to what conditions must be met to qualify for reimbursement. These requirements relate to, among other things, pre-admission screening, post-admission evaluations, and individual treatment planning that all delineate the role of physicians in ordering and overseeing patient care. For example, a physician must admit each patient and in doing so determine that the treatment of the patient in an IRF setting is reasonable and necessary. In addition, to qualify as an IRF under Medicare rules, a facility must be primarily focused on treating patients with one of 13 specified medical conditions that typically require intensive therapy and supervision, such as stroke, brain injury, hip fracture, certain neurological conditions, and spinal cord injury. Specifically, at least 60% of a facility’s patients must have a diagnosis or qualifying comorbidity from at least one of these 13 conditions, which requirement is known as the “60% Rule.” Also, each patient admitted to an IRF must be able to tolerate a minimum of three hours of therapy per day for five days per week and must have a registered nurse available 24 hours, each day of the week.
The CARES Act temporarily suspends the requirement that patients must be able to tolerate a minimum of three hours of therapy per day for five days per week. Additionally, CMS has waived certain of the requirements that at least 60% of a facility’s patients must have a diagnosis from at least 1 of 13 specified medical conditions and the requirement for a physician to conduct and document a post-admission evaluation (as discussed below, the 2021 IRF Rule permanently removed the post-admission evaluation requirement effective October 1, 2020). CMS has also issued a waiver to permit the rehabilitation physician to conduct face-to-face visits using telehealth.
Under IRF-PPS, CMS is required to adjust the payment rates based on an IRF-specific market basket index. The annual market basket update is designed to reflect changes over time in the prices of a mix of goods and services used by IRFs. In setting annual market basket updates, CMS uses data furnished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for price proxy purposes, primarily in three categories: Producer Price Indexes, Consumer Price Indexes, and Employment Cost Indexes. With IRF-PPS, our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals retain the difference, if any, between the fixed payment from Medicare and their operating costs. Thus, our hospitals benefit from being cost-effective providers.
On July 31, 2019, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for fiscal year 2020 IRF-PPS (the “2020 IRF Rule”). The 2020 IRF Rule implemented a 2.9% market basket update effective for discharges between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020. The 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws require the annual market basket update to be reduced by a productivity adjustment. The productivity adjustment equals the trailing 10-year average of changes in annual economy-wide private nonfarm business multi-factor productivity. The productivity adjustment effective October 1, 2019 decreased the market basket update by 40 basis points. The 2020 IRF Rule also included a change to the IRF-PPS, effective October 1, 2019, that replaced the FIM™ assessment instrument with new patient assessment measures, which we refer to as “Section GG functional measures” or “Section GG” based on the designation CMS assigned to them. Section GG affects patients’ classification into case-mix groupings, relative weights, and length-of-stay values under the IRF-PPS, which in turn affect our reimbursement amounts.
On August 4, 2020, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for fiscal year 2021 IRF-PPS (the “2021 IRF Rule”). The 2021 IRF Rule implements a net 2.4% market basket increase effective for discharges between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. The 2021 IRF Rule also includes changes that impact our hospital-by-hospital base rate for Medicare reimbursement. Such changes include, but are not limited to, revisions to the wage index and labor-related share values and updates to the case-mix group relative weights and average lengths of stay values. Additionally, the 2021 IRF Rule removes the post-admission physician evaluation requirement for all IRF discharges beginning on or after October 1, 2020, codifies certain inpatient rehabilitation coverage documentation requirements, and, under certain conditions, allows the use of non-physician practitioners to perform the service and documentation requirements for one of the three required face-to-face physician visits in a patient’s second and subsequent weeks in an IRF stay.
Unlike our inpatient services, our outpatient services are primarily reimbursed under the Medicare Part B physician fee schedule. On December 1, 2020, CMS released its final notice of rulemaking for the payment policies under the physician fee schedule and other revisions to Part B policies for calendar year 2021. The updates to the fee schedule are not expected to be material to us. The 2021 Budget Act includes a 3.75% increase to payments under the physician fee schedule for services furnished during calendar year 2021.
Home Health. Medicare pays home health benefits for patients discharged from a hospital or patients otherwise suffering from chronic conditions that require ongoing but intermittent skilled care. As a condition of participation under Medicare, patients must be homebound (meaning unable to leave their home without a considerable and taxing effort), require intermittent skilled nursing, physical therapy or speech therapy services, or have a continuing need for occupational therapy, and receive treatment under a plan of care established and periodically reviewed by a physician. A physician must document that he or she or a qualifying nurse practitioner has had a face-to-face encounter with the patient and then certify to CMS that a patient meets the eligibility requirements for the home health benefit. The CARES Act temporarily allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants under certain conditions to certify, establish and periodically review the plan of care, as well as
supervise the provision of items and services for beneficiaries and expands the use of telehealth. For regulatory relief during the pandemic, CMS adopted a series of waivers, including expanding the definition of “homebound” to include patients needing skilled services who are homebound due solely to their COVID-19 diagnosis or patients susceptible to contract COVID-19 and limiting and delaying certain quality reporting requirements.
The initial certification of Medicare patient eligibility, plan of care, and comprehensive assessment is valid for a 60-day episode of care. Prior to January 1, 2020, Medicare paid home health providers under the HH-PPS for each 60-day episode of care for each patient. Providers typically received either 50% or 60% of the estimated base payment for the full 60 days for each patient upon submission of the initial claim at the beginning of the episode of care based on the patient’s condition and treatment needs. The provider received the remaining portion of the payment after the 60-day treatment period, subject to any applicable adjustments. This partial early payment process is referred to as the Request for Anticipated Payment or “RAP.”
As of January 1, 2020, Medicare reimburses home health providers under a new payment system, referred to as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (“PDGM”). PDGM replaced a 60-day episode of payment methodology with a 30-day payment period and relies more heavily on clinical characteristics and other patient information (such as principal diagnosis, functional level, referral source, and timing), rather than the therapy service-use thresholds under the prior system, to determine payments. Under PDGM, the initial certification remains valid for 60 days. If a patient remains eligible for care after the initial period as certified by a physician, a new treatment period may begin. There are currently no limits to the number of home health treatment periods a Medicare patient may receive assuming there is eligibility for each successive period. PDGM also reduced the early payment opportunity available through RAP in 2020. Beginning in 2021, providers no longer have the opportunity to receive early payment through the RAP process. However, providers are required to submit certain RAP documentation components within five days of the start of each payment period and are subject to reimbursement penalties if not timely filed. Beginning in 2022, home health providers will be required to submit a Notice of Admission, or “NOA,” within five days of the start of the initial treatment period. CMS will reduce reimbursement for agencies that fail to submit a NOA timely.
Home health Medicare payments are adjusted based on each patient’s condition and clinical treatment. This is referred to as the case-mix adjustment. In addition to the case-mix adjustment, payments for periods of care may be adjusted for other reasons, including unusually large (outlier) costs, low-utilization patients (such as those requiring one to five visits based on the case-mix group), and geographic differences in wages. Payments are also made for non-routine medical supplies that are used in treatment.
On October 31, 2019, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for calendar year 2020 for home health agencies under the HH-PPS (the “2020 HH Rule”). Pursuant to the requirements of the 2018 Budget Act, the 2020 HH Rule finalized the implementation of PDGM for 2020. In addition to the significant changes to the home health reimbursement model related to PDGM, the 2020 HH Rule required additional quality reporting measures and significantly increased the standardized patient assessment data elements to be collected by providers beginning in 2022. With respect to Medicare reimbursement rates, the 2020 HH Rule implemented a net 1.3% market basket increase (market basket update of 1.5% reduced by 0.2% for an extension of the rural payment add-on factor) in 2020. The 2020 HH Rule then reduced the base payment rate by 4.4% to offset the provider behavioral changes that CMS assumed PDGM would drive.
On October 29, 2020, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for calendar year 2021 for home health agencies under the home health prospective payment system (the “2021 HH Rule”). The 2021 HH Rule implements a net 2.0% market basket increase (market basket update of 2.3% reduced by a productivity adjustment of 0.3%) and makes changes to the underlying wage index system. Making the previously temporary pandemic-related relief permanent, the 2021 HH Rule authorizes the use of telecommunications technologies in providing care to beneficiaries under the Medicare home health benefit as long as the telecommunications technology meets certain criteria and does not replace in-person visits.
Hospice. Medicare pays hospice benefits for patients with life expectancies of six months or less, as documented by the patient’s physician(s). Under Medicare rules, patients seeking hospice benefits must agree to forgo curative treatment for their terminal medical conditions. Medicare hospice reimbursements are subject to a number of conditions of participation, including the use of volunteers and onsite visits to evaluate aides. Volunteers provide day-to-day administrative and direct patient care services in an amount that, at a minimum, equals five percent of the total patient care hours of all paid hospice employees and contract staff. A nurse or other professional conducts an onsite visit every two weeks to evaluate if aides are providing care consistent with the care plan. The CARES Act includes the temporary waiver of the requirement to use volunteers and to conduct a nurse visit every two weeks to evaluate aides and allows for the expanded use of telehealth. The 2021 Budget Act creates a new Medicare survey program for hospice agencies which will require a survey at least once every three years. Hospices that are found to be out of compliance could be subjected to new civil monetary penalties that accrue according to days out of compliance, as well as other forms of corrective action.
For each day a patient elects hospice benefits, Medicare pays an adjusted daily rate based on patient location, and payments represent a prospective per diem amount tied to one of four different categories or levels of care: routine home care, continuous home care, inpatient respite care, and general inpatient care. Medicare hospice reimbursements to each provider are also subject to two annual caps, one limiting total hospice payments based on the average annual payment per beneficiary and another limiting payments based on the number of days of inpatient care billed by the hospice provider. There are currently no limits to the number of hospice benefit periods an eligible Medicare patient may receive, and a patient may revoke the benefit at any time.
On July 31, 2019, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for fiscal year 2020 for hospice agencies under the Hospice-PPS (the “2020 Hospice Rule”). The 2020 Hospice Rule provided for various pricing updates, including a net market basket update of 2.6% (market basket update of 3.0% reduced by a productivity adjustment of 0.4%), for hospice payments from October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020 and made other policy updates, including adding a requirement to provide additional cost sharing information to beneficiaries if there are services not covered by the hospice agency.
On July 31, 2020, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for fiscal year 2021 for hospice agencies under the Hospice-PPS (the “2021 Hospice Rule”). The 2021 Hospice Rule implements a net 2.4% market basket increase from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.
For additional discussion of the 2021 Medicare payment rules and other regulatory and legislative initiatives affecting Medicare reimbursement, including relief measures associated with the pandemic, that could impact our businesses, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Executive Overview-Key Challenges.”
Managed Care and Other Discount Plans
We negotiate payment rates with certain large group purchasers of healthcare services, including Medicare Advantage, managed care plans, private insurance companies, and third-party administrators. Managed care contracts typically have terms between one and three years, although we have a number of managed care contracts that automatically renew each year (with pre-defined rate increases) unless a party elects to terminate the contract. In 2020, typical rate increases for our inpatient rehabilitation contracts ranged from 2-4% and for our home health and hospice contracts ranged from 0-3%. We cannot provide any assurance we will continue to receive increases in the future. Our managed care staff focuses on establishing and re-negotiating contracts that provide equitable reimbursement for the services provided.
Medicaid Reimbursement
Medicaid is a jointly administered and funded federal and state program that provides hospital and medical benefits to qualifying individuals who are deemed unable to afford healthcare. As the Medicaid program is administered by the individual states under the oversight of CMS in accordance with certain regulatory and statutory guidelines, there are substantial differences in reimbursement methodologies and coverage policies from state to state. Many states have experienced shortfalls in their Medicaid budgets and are implementing significant cuts in Medicaid reimbursement rates. Additionally, certain states control Medicaid expenditures through restricting or eliminating coverage of some services. Continuing downward pressure on Medicaid payment rates could cause a decline in that portion of our Net operating revenues. However, for the year ended December 31, 2020, Medicaid payments represented only 3.4% of our consolidated Net operating revenues. In certain states in which we operate, we are experiencing an increase in Medicaid patients, partially the result of expanded coverage consistent with the intent of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws. For additional discussion, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, “Changes in our payor mix or the acuity of our patients could adversely affect our Net operating revenues or our profitability.”
Cost Reports
Because of our participation in Medicare and Medicaid, we are required to meet certain financial reporting requirements. Federal and, where applicable, state regulations require the submission of annual cost reports covering the revenue, costs, and expenses associated with the services provided by inpatient hospital, home health, and hospice providers to Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients. These annual cost reports are subject to routine audits which may result in adjustments to the amounts ultimately determined to be due to us under these reimbursement programs. These audits are used for determining if any under- or over-payments were made to these programs and to set payment levels for future years. Medicare also makes retroactive adjustments to payments for certain low-income patients after comparing subsequently published statistical data from CMS to the cost report data. We cannot predict what retroactive adjustments, if any, will be made, but we do not anticipate these adjustments will have a material impact on us.
Regulation
The healthcare industry is subject to significant federal, state, and local regulation that affects our business activities by controlling the reimbursement we receive for services provided, requiring licensure or certification of our operations, regulating our relationships with physicians and other referral sources, regulating the use of our properties, and controlling our growth. State and local healthcare regulation may cover additional matters such as nurse staffing ratios, healthcare worker safety, marijuana legalization, and assisted suicide. We are also subject to the broader federal and state regulations that prohibit fraud and abuse in the delivery of healthcare services. Congress, HHS-OIG, and the DOJ have historically focused on fraud and abuse in healthcare. Since the 1980s, a steady stream of changes have stiffened penalties or made it easier for DOJ to impose liability on companies and individuals, and the pace of these changes has only been increasing. The 2018 Budget Act continues this emphasis by increasing the criminal and civil penalties that can be imposed for violating federal health care laws. As a healthcare provider, we are subject to periodic audits, examinations and investigations conducted by, or at the direction of, government investigative and oversight agencies. Failure to comply with applicable federal and state healthcare regulations can result in a provider’s exclusion from participation in government reimbursement programs and in substantial civil and criminal penalties.
We undertake significant effort and expense to provide the medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services required to comply with local, state, and federal regulations, as well as, for most facilities, accreditation standards of The Joint Commission and, for some facilities, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. We also maintain accreditation for our home health and hospice agencies where required and in other instances where it facilitates more efficient Medicare enrollment. The Community Health Accreditation Program is the most common accrediting organization for our agencies. Accredited facilities and agencies are subject to periodic resurvey to ensure the standards are being met.
Beyond healthcare specific regulations, we face increasing state and local regulation in areas, such as labor and employment and data privacy, traditionally subject to only or primarily federal regulation. In addition to the risk and burden of new, additional, or more stringent regulatory standards, these state and local regulations often conflict with federal regulation, and with each other. Given the number of locations in which we operate, increasing state and local regulation, which may be more stringent than federal regulation and may even conflict with federal or other state or local regulation, represents a significant burden and risk to us.
We maintain a comprehensive ethics and compliance program to promote conduct and business practices that meet or exceed requirements under laws, regulations, and industry standards. The program monitors the Company’s performance on, and raises awareness of, various regulatory requirements among employees and emphasizes the importance of complying with governmental laws and regulations. As part of the compliance program, we provide annual compliance training to our employees, Board members, medical directors, vendors, and other non-employees that operate within our hospitals, and require all employees to report any violations to their supervisor or another person of authority or through a toll-free telephone hotline. Another integral part of our compliance program is a policy of non-retaliation against employees who report compliance concerns.
Licensure and Certification
Healthcare facility construction and operation are subject to numerous federal, state, and local regulations relating to, among other things, the adequacy of medical care, equipment, personnel, operating policies and procedures, acquisition and dispensing of pharmaceuticals and controlled substances, infection control, maintenance of adequate records and patient privacy, fire prevention, and compliance with building codes and environmental protection laws. Our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals are subject to periodic inspection and other reviews by governmental and non-governmental certification authorities to ensure continued compliance with the various standards necessary for facility licensure. All of our hospitals are required to be licensed.
In addition, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals must be certified by CMS to participate in the Medicare program and generally must be certified by Medicaid state agencies to participate in Medicaid programs. Certification and participation in these programs involve numerous regulatory obligations. For example, hospitals must treat at least 20 patients without reimbursement prior to certification and eligibility for Medicare reimbursement. Once certified by Medicare, hospitals undergo periodic on-site surveys and revalidations in order to maintain their certification. All of our inpatient hospitals participate in the Medicare program.
Our home health and hospice agencies are each licensed under applicable law, certified by CMS for participation in the Medicare program, and generally certified by the applicable state Medicaid agencies to participate in those programs.
Failure to comply with applicable certification requirements may make our hospitals and agencies, as the case may be, ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. In addition, Medicare or Medicaid may seek retroactive reimbursement from noncompliant providers or otherwise impose sanctions for noncompliance. Non-governmental payors often have the right to terminate provider contracts if the provider loses its Medicare or Medicaid certification.
All Medicare providers are subject to employee screening requirements and associated fees. The screening of employees with patient access must include a licensure check and may include other procedures such as fingerprinting, criminal background checks, unscheduled and unannounced site visits, database checks, and other screening procedures prescribed by CMS. If a healthcare provider arranges or contracts with an individual or entity who is excluded by HHS-OIG from participation in a federal healthcare program, the provider may be subject to civil monetary penalties if the excluded person renders services reimbursed, directly or indirectly, by a program.
We have developed operational systems to oversee compliance with the various standards and requirements of the Medicare program and have established ongoing quality assurance activities; however, given the complex nature of governmental healthcare regulations, there can be no assurance Medicare, Medicaid, or other regulatory authorities will not allege instances of noncompliance. A determination by a regulatory authority that a facility or agency is not in compliance with applicable requirements could also lead to the assessment of fines or other penalties, loss of licensure, exclusion from participation in Medicare and Medicaid, and the imposition of requirements that the offending facility or agency must take corrective action.
Certificates of Need
In some states and U.S. territories where we operate, the construction or expansion of facilities, the acquisition of existing facilities or agencies, or the introduction of new beds or inpatient, home health, and hospice services may be subject to review by and prior approval of state regulatory bodies under a “certificate of need,” or “CON,” law. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 40% of our licensed beds and 36% of our home health and hospice locations are in states or U.S. territories that have CON laws. CON laws require a reviewing authority or agency to determine the public need for additional or expanded healthcare facilities and services. These laws also generally require approvals for capital expenditures involving inpatient rehabilitation hospitals if such capital expenditures exceed certain thresholds. In addition, CON laws in some states require us to abide by certain charity care commitments as a condition for approving a CON. Any instance where we are subject to a CON law, we must obtain it before acquiring, opening, reclassifying, or expanding a healthcare facility, starting a new healthcare program, or opening a new home health or hospice agency.
We potentially face opposition any time we initiate a project requiring a new or amended CON or seek to acquire an existing CON. This opposition may arise either from competing national or regional companies or from local hospitals, agencies, or other providers which file competing applications or oppose the proposed CON project. Opposition to our applications may delay or prevent our future addition of beds, hospitals, or agencies in given markets or increase our costs in seeking those additions. The necessity for these approvals serves as a barrier to entry and has the potential to limit competition for us (in markets where we hold a CON) and for other providers (in markets where we are seeking a CON). We have generally been successful in obtaining CONs or similar approvals, although there can be no assurance we will achieve similar success in the future, and the likelihood of success varies by locality and state.
In an attempt to reduce regulation and increase competition, lawmakers in several states have recently proposed modification or even full repeal of CON laws. In 2019, Florida enacted legislation to repeal CON laws for several provider types, including IRFs, in two stages. Effective July 1, 2019, existing IRFs became eligible to expand without first obtaining a CON. Effective July 1, 2021, new IRFs may operate without first obtaining a CON. It appears likely other states will consider CON-related legislation and regulation changes, including in some cases expanding CON requirements.
False Claims
The federal False Claims Act (the “FCA”) imposes liability for the knowing presentation of a false claim to the United States government and provides for penalties equal to three times the actual amount of any overpayments plus up to approximately $23,000 per claim. Federal civil penalties will be adjusted to account for inflation each year. In addition, the FCA allows private persons, known as “relators,” to file complaints under seal and provides a period of time for the government to investigate such complaints and determine whether to intervene in them and take over the handling of all or part of such complaints. The government and relators may also allege violations of the FCA for the knowing and improper failure to report and refund amounts owed to the government in a timely manner following identification of an overpayment. This is known as a “reverse false claim.” The government deems identification of the overpayment to occur when a person has, or should have through reasonable diligence, determined that an overpayment was received and quantified the overpayment.
Because we perform thousands of similar procedures a year for which we are reimbursed by Medicare and other federal payors and there is a relatively long statute of limitations, a billing error, cost reporting error or disagreement over physician medical judgment could result in significant damages and civil and criminal penalties under the FCA. Many states have also adopted similar laws relating to state government payments for healthcare services. The 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws amended the FCA to expand the definition of false claim, to make it easier for the government to initiate and conduct investigations, to enhance the monetary reward to relators where prosecutions are ultimately successful, and to extend the statute of limitations on claims by the government. The federal government has become increasingly aggressive in asserting that incidents of erroneous billing or record keeping represent FCA violations and in challenging the medical judgment of independent physicians as the basis for FCA allegations. Furthermore, well-publicized enforcement actions indicate that the federal government has increasingly sought to use statistical sampling to extrapolate allegations to larger pools of claims or to infer liability without proving knowledge of falsity of individual claims. For additional discussion, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Note 18, Contingencies and Other Commitments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Relationships with Physicians and Other Providers
Anti-Kickback Law. Various state and federal laws regulate relationships between providers of healthcare services, including management or service contracts and investment relationships. Among the most important of these restrictions is a federal law prohibiting the offer, payment, solicitation, or receipt of remuneration by individuals or entities to induce referrals of patients for services reimbursed under the Medicare or Medicaid programs (the “Anti-Kickback Law”). The 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws amended the federal Anti-Kickback Law to provide that proving violations of this law does not require proving actual knowledge or specific intent to commit a violation. Another amendment made it clear that Anti-Kickback Law violations can be the basis for claims under the FCA. These changes and those described above related to the FCA, when combined with other recent federal initiatives, are likely to increase investigation and enforcement efforts in the healthcare industry generally. In addition to standard federal criminal and civil sanctions, including imprisonment and penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation plus tripled damages for improper claims, violators of the Anti-Kickback Law may be subject to exclusion from the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs. Federal civil penalties will be adjusted to account for inflation each year. In 1991, HHS-OIG issued regulations describing compensation arrangements that are not viewed as illegal remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Law. Those regulations provide for certain safe harbors for identified types of compensation arrangements that, if fully complied with, assure participants in the particular arrangement that HHS-OIG will not treat that participation as a criminal offense under the Anti-Kickback Law or as the basis for an exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs or the imposition of civil sanctions.
On November 20, 2020, HHS-OIG finalized a rule to modernize the Anti-Kickback Law by reducing regulatory barriers to care coordination and accelerating adoption of value-based delivery and payment models (the “2020 AKL Rule”). The 2020 AKL Rule adds several new safe harbors for value-based arrangements and modifies several existing safe harbors with the goal of encouraging innovations that are beneficial to patients while maintaining necessary safeguards to protect against fraud and abuse. The 2020 AKL Rule also expands the safe harbor for cybersecurity technology by covering remuneration in the form of cybersecurity technology and services. The new and modified value-based safe harbors are available to inpatient rehabilitation and home health providers if the applicable conditions are met.
Failure to fall within a safe harbor does not constitute a violation of the Anti-Kickback Law, but HHS-OIG has indicated failure to fall within a safe harbor may subject an arrangement to increased scrutiny. A violation of the Anti-Kickback Law by us or one or more of our joint ventures could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Even the assertion of a violation could have an adverse effect upon our stock price or reputation.
We operate a number of our rehabilitation hospitals and a few of our home health agencies through joint ventures with institutional healthcare providers that may be in a position to make or influence referrals to us. In addition, we have a number of relationships with physicians and other healthcare providers, including management or service contracts. Some of these investment relationships and contractual relationships may not fall within the protection offered by a safe harbor. Despite our compliance and monitoring efforts, there can be no assurance violations of the Anti-Kickback Law will not be asserted in the future, nor can there be any assurance our defense against any such assertion would be successful.
For example, we have entered into agreements to manage our hospitals that are owned by joint ventures. Most of these agreements incorporate a percentage-based management fee. Although there is a safe harbor for personal services and management contracts, this safe harbor requires, among other things, the aggregate compensation paid to the manager over the term of the agreement be set in advance. Because our management fee may be based on a percentage of revenues, the fee arrangement may not meet this requirement. However, we believe our management arrangements satisfy the other requirements of the safe harbor for personal services and management contracts and comply with the Anti-Kickback Law.
Physician Self-Referral Law. The federal law commonly known as the “Stark law” and CMS regulations promulgated under the Stark law prohibit physicians from making referrals for “designated health services” including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, radiology services, and home health services, to an entity in which the physician (or an immediate family member) has an investment interest or other financial relationship, subject to certain exceptions. The Stark law also prohibits those entities from filing claims or billing Medicare for those referred services. Violators of the Stark law and regulations may be subject to recoupments, civil monetary sanctions (up to $26,000 for each violation and assessments up to three times the amount claimed for each prohibited service) and exclusion from any federal, state, or other governmental healthcare programs. The statute also provides a penalty of up to $172,000 for a circumvention scheme. Federal civil penalties will be adjusted to account for inflation each year. There are statutory exceptions to the Stark law for many of the customary financial arrangements between physicians and providers, including personal services contracts and leases. However, in order to be afforded protection by a Stark law exception, the financial arrangement must comply with every requirement of the applicable exception.
Under the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws, the exception to the Stark law that currently permits physicians to refer patients to hospitals in which they have an investment or ownership interest has been dramatically limited by providing that only physician-owned hospitals with a provider agreement in place on December 31, 2010 are exempt from the general ban on self-referral. Existing physician-owned hospitals are prohibited from increasing the physician ownership percentage in the hospital after March 23, 2010. Additionally, physician-owned hospitals are prohibited from increasing the number of licensed beds after March 23, 2010, except when certain market and regulatory approval conditions are met. We have no hospitals that would be considered physician-owned under this law.
On November 20, 2020, CMS finalized a rule implementing various changes to the Stark law to provide better access and outcomes for patients by creating clearer paths for providers to serve patients through enhanced coordinated care agreements (the “2020 Stark Rule”). Notably, the 2020 Stark Rule creates permanent exceptions for value-based compensation arrangements that provide at least one value-based activity, which arrangements must further one value-based purpose, which may include: (1) coordinating and managing patient care; (2) improving quality of care for a target population; (3) reducing costs or expenditure growth without reducing quality of care; and (4) transitioning from health care delivery and payment mechanisms that are based on volume to outcome-based delivery and payment systems. In addition, the 2020 Stark Rule adopts a new exception regarding the provision of cybersecurity items to physicians and makes permanent the electronic health record exception under the Stark law.
The complexity of the Stark law and the associated regulations and their associated strict liability provisions are a challenge for healthcare providers, who do not always have the benefit of significant regulatory or judicial interpretation of these laws and regulations. We attempt to structure our relationships to meet one or more exceptions to the Stark law, but the regulations implementing the exceptions are detailed and complex. Accordingly, we cannot assure that every relationship complies fully with the Stark law.
Additionally, no assurances can be given that any agency charged with enforcement of the Stark law and regulations might not assert a violation under the Stark law, nor can there be any assurance our defense against any such assertion would be successful or that new federal or state laws governing physician relationships, or new interpretations of existing laws governing such relationships, might not adversely affect relationships we have established with physicians or result in the imposition of penalties on us. A violation of the Stark law by us could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Even the assertion of a violation could have an adverse effect upon our stock price or reputation.
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly known as “HIPAA,” broadened the scope of certain fraud and abuse laws by adding several criminal provisions for healthcare fraud offenses that apply to all health benefit programs. HIPAA also added a prohibition against incentives intended to influence decisions by Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries as to the provider from which they will receive services. In addition, HIPAA created new enforcement mechanisms to combat fraud and abuse, including the Medicare Integrity Program, and an incentive program under which individuals can receive a monetary reward for providing information on Medicare fraud and abuse that leads to the recovery of at least Medicare funds. Penalties for violations of HIPAA include civil and criminal monetary penalties. The HHS Office of Civil Rights (“HHS-OCR”) implemented a permanent HIPAA audit program for healthcare providers nationwide in 2016. As of December 31, 2020, we have not been selected for audit.
HIPAA and related HHS regulations contain certain administrative simplification provisions that require the use of uniform electronic data transmission standards for certain healthcare claims and payment transactions submitted or received electronically. HIPAA regulations also regulate the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health-related information,
whether communicated electronically, on paper, or orally. The regulations provide patients with significant rights related to understanding and controlling how their health information is used or disclosed and require healthcare providers to implement administrative, physical, and technical practices to protect the security of individually identifiable health information.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act modifies and expands the privacy and security requirements of HIPAA. The HITECH Act applies certain of the HIPAA privacy and security requirements directly to business associates of covered entities. The modifications to existing HIPAA requirements include: expanded accounting requirements for electronic health records, tighter restrictions on marketing and fundraising, and heightened penalties and enforcement associated with noncompliance. Significantly, the HITECH Act also establishes new mandatory federal requirements for notification of breaches of security involving protected health information. HHS-OCR rules implementing the HITECH Act expand the potential liability for a breach involving protected health information to cover some instances where a subcontractor is responsible for the breaches and that individual or entity was acting within the scope of delegated authority under the related contract or engagement. These rules generally define “breach” to mean the acquisition, access, use or disclosure of protected health information in a manner not permitted by the HIPAA privacy standards, which compromises the security or privacy of protected health information. Under these rules, improper acquisition, access, use, or disclosure is presumed to be a reportable breach, unless the potentially breaching party can demonstrate a low probability that protected health information has been compromised.
In December 2020, HHS-OCR proposed a new rule that would modify HIPAA regulations. According to HHS-OCR, the proposed rule is intended to promote care coordination and value-based care. The proposed changes to the HIPAA rules also provide for strengthening individuals’ rights to access their own health information, including electronic information; improving information sharing for care coordination and case management for individuals; facilitating greater family and caregiver involvement in the care of individuals experiencing emergencies or health crises; enhancing flexibilities for disclosures in emergency or threatening circumstances, such as the opioid and COVID-19 public health emergencies; and reducing administrative burdens on HIPAA covered healthcare providers and health plans, while continuing to protect individuals’ health information privacy interests. Although one of the stated purposes of the proposed rules is to reduce healthcare providers burdens, providers would have to engage in a number of activities to come into compliance if the changes are finalized, including changing policies and procedures, changing patient privacy notices and business associate agreements and training workforce members in the new requirements.
HHS-OCR is responsible for enforcing the requirement that covered entities notify HHS and any individual whose protected health information has been improperly acquired, accessed, used, or disclosed. In certain cases, notice of a breach is required to be made to media outlets. The heightened penalties for noncompliance range from $100 to $50,000 per violation for most violations. In the event of violations due to willful neglect that are not corrected within 30 days, penalties start at $50,000 per violation and are not subject to a per violation statutory maximum. Penalties are also subject to an annual cap for multiple identical violations in a single calendar year. Pursuant to 2019 guidance from HHS-OCR, this enforcement cap ranges from a minimum of $25,000 per year to a maximum of $1,500,000 per year depending on an entity’s level of culpability. Importantly, HHS-OCR has indicated that the failure to conduct a security risk assessment or adequately implement HIPAA compliance policies could qualify as willful neglect.
In addition, there are numerous legislative and regulatory initiatives at the federal and state levels addressing patient privacy concerns. Healthcare providers will continue to remain subject to any federal or state privacy-related laws, including but not limited to the California Consumer Privacy Act, that are more restrictive than the privacy regulations issued under HIPAA. These laws vary and could impose additional penalties. HHS-OIG and other regulators have also increasingly interpreted laws and regulations in a manner as to increase exposure of healthcare providers to allegations of noncompliance. Any actual or perceived violation of privacy-related laws and regulations, including HIPAA and the HITECH Act, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Civil Monetary Penalties Law
Under the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, HHS may impose civil monetary penalties on healthcare providers that present, or cause to be presented, ineligible reimbursement claims for services. The 2018 Budget Act increased the civil monetary penalties, which vary depending on the offense from $5,000 to $100,000 per violation, plus treble damages for the amount at issue and may include exclusion from federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The penalties are adjusted annually to account for inflation. HHS may seek to impose monetary penalties under this law for, among other things, offering inducements to beneficiaries for program services and filing false or fraudulent claims.
Available Information
We make available through our website, www.encompasshealth.com, the following documents, free of charge: our annual reports (Form 10-K), our quarterly reports (Form 10-Q), our current reports (Form 8-K), and any amendments to those reports promptly after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A.Risk Factors
Our business, operations, and financial position are subject to various risks. Some of these risks are described below, and the reader should take such risks into account in evaluating Encompass Health or any investment decision involving Encompass Health. This section does not describe all risks that may be applicable to us, our industry, or our business, and it is intended only as a summary of material risk factors. More detailed information concerning other risks and uncertainties as well as those described below is contained in other sections of this annual report. Still other risks and uncertainties we have not or cannot foresee as material to us may also adversely affect us in the future. If any of the risks below or other risks or uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this annual report are actually realized, our business and financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected. In the event the impact is materially adverse, the trading price of our common stock could decline.
Risks Related to the Strategic Review of Our Home Health and Hospice Business
We are reviewing strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business, but there can be no assurance that we will be successful in identifying or consummating any strategic alternatives, that strategic alternatives will yield additional value for our stockholders, or that exploration of strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business will not adversely impact our business, financial results or results of operations.
On December 9, 2020, we announced that our board of directors proceeded with a more formalized process for exploring strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business. As part of this strategic review process, a number of options are under consideration, including the full or partial separation of the home health and hospice business from Encompass Health through an initial public offering, spin-off, merger, sale or other transaction. This strategic review is ongoing and may not result in the consummation of any transaction, on any particular timetable or at all. Speculation regarding any developments related to the review of strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business and perceived uncertainties related to the future of such business or Encompass Health could cause our stock price to fluctuate significantly.
Our exploration of strategic alternatives for the home health and hospice business exposes us to a number of risks and uncertainties, including diversion of management’s time to the process; the incurrence of significant expenses associated with the review and pursuit of any transaction; increased difficulties in attracting, retaining or motivating key management personnel; and exposure to potential litigation. Any of these factors could disrupt our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or stock price.
Additionally, we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits from a potential transaction or other strategic alternative involving our home health and hospice business. There can be no assurance that any potential transaction or other strategic alternative, if identified, evaluated and consummated, will provide greater value to our stockholders than that reflected in our current stock price. Further, our board of directors may determine to suspend or terminate the exploration of strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business at any time. Any potential transaction or other outcome of this review process is also dependent upon a number of factors that may be beyond our control, including among other factors, market conditions (including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic), industry trends, regulatory developments, litigation, and the interest of third parties in our business.
Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) Pandemic Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic (the “pandemic”) has significantly affected and is expected to continue to significantly affect our operations, business and financial condition, and our liquidity could be negatively impacted, particularly if the operations of a significant number of acute-care hospitals and physician practices are disrupted for a lengthy period of time.
The pandemic has significantly affected and will continue to significantly affect our facilities, employees, business operations, and financial performance, as well as the United States economy and financial markets. The pandemic is still rapidly evolving and much of its impact remains unknown and difficult to predict, with the impact on our operations and financial performance being dependent on numerous factors, including the rate of spread, duration and geographic coverage of the
pandemic; the rate and extent to which the virus mutates; the status of testing capabilities; the development, distribution, and administration of effective vaccines and therapeutic remedies for COVID-19 and any mutant strains; the legal, regulatory and administrative developments related to the pandemic at federal, state, and local levels, such as shelter-in-place orders, facility closures and quarantines; and the infectious disease prevention and control efforts of the Company, governments and third parties. We began experiencing a negative impact on our operations and financial results in March 2020. Although we experienced improvements in operations and financial performance in the third and fourth quarters, the ongoing nature of the pandemic means that new or recurring problems are likely to arise and may have significant negative effects on our business.
Patient Volumes and Related Risks
Beginning in mid-March 2020 and continuing through the end of the year, we have experienced decreased patient volumes in both of our operating segments, with the exception of our hospice business, when compared to prior year periods. We believe reduced patient volumes resulted, and may continue to result in specific markets, from a number of conditions related to the pandemic negatively affecting the willingness and ability of patients to seek and receive healthcare services, including: reductions in elective procedures by acute-care hospitals and physician practices; capacity and staffing constraints; restrictive governmental measures, such as travel bans, social distancing requirements, quarantines and shelter-in-place orders; and patient and caregiver fear of infection. In the home health and hospice segment, we also experienced decreases in visits per episode and institutional referrals because of the pandemic, both of which negatively affected pricing for home health.
We believe one of the primary drivers of our reduced volumes is the significant reduction in volumes of elective procedures by acute-care hospitals and physician practices. There is also reason to believe patients, because of fear of infection, have delayed or foregone treatment for conditions, such as stroke and heart attack, that are non-elective in nature. As a reminder, a large number of patients are referred to us following procedures or treatment at acute-care hospitals. Other factors related to the pandemic that have led to decreasing patient volumes include: lower acute-care hospital censuses due to shelter-in-place orders, restrictive visitation policies in place at acute-care hospitals that severely limit access to patients and caregivers by our clinical rehabilitation liaisons and care transition coordinators, lock downs of assisted living facilities that prevent our home care and hospice clinicians and other care providers from visiting patients, and heightened anxiety among patients and their family members regarding the risk of exposure to COVID-19 during acute-care and post-acute care treatment. Significant outbreaks of COVID-19 in our markets, hospitals or large acute-care referral sources could further increase patient anxiety and unwillingness to seek treatment from us or otherwise limit referrals. These factors have contributed, and could in the future contribute, to a decline in new patients for both of our operating segments as well as decreases in visits per episode and institutional referrals in our home health segment.
Supply Chain
Additionally, we experienced supply chain disruptions as a result of the pandemic, including shortages and delays, and we have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price increases in equipment, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, particularly personal protective equipment, or “PPE.” Beginning in March 2020, we experienced increased supply expenses due to higher utilization of PPE and increased purchasing of other medical supplies and cleaning and sanitization materials as well as higher prices for supplies in shortage. Increased supply expenses are likely to continue into 2021. Shortages of essential PPE and pharmaceutical and medical supplies in the future may also limit our ability to admit and treat patients or lead to employee disputes.
Staffing and Related Risks
Our operations and financial results have been and may in the future be adversely affected by staffing shortages where employees must self-quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 or where employees are unavailable due to a lack of childcare or care for elderly family members (social distancing, quarantines and shelter-in-place orders). Staffing shortages have limited, and may in the future limit, our ability to admit additional patients at a given facility or agency. Delays in obtaining COVID-19 test results may also adversely affect employee availability. In addition to staffing shortages, significant outbreaks or PPE shortages in our markets or hospitals may reduce employee morale or create labor unrest or other workforce disruptions. Staffing shortages or employee relations issues related to COVID-19 may lead to increased compensation expenses and limitations on the ability to admit new patients. In April 2020, we initiated a program for eligible frontline employees to earn additional paid time off in recognition of their outstanding efforts responding to the pandemic. With more than 21,000 employees potentially benefiting from this additional paid time off, we accrued approximately $43 million in salary and benefits expense during the second quarter in connection with this award. We may also experience additional benefit costs related to increased workers’ compensation claims and group health insurance expenses as a result of the pandemic. Additionally, as some employees work from home to comply with pandemic-mitigation protocols, they will rely on remote
access to our information systems to a greater extent than normal, which could increase the likelihood and magnitude of a cyber attack on our information systems.
Legal and Regulatory Environment
Future federal, state or local laws, regulations, orders, or other governmental or regulatory actions addressing the pandemic could reduce the number of patients willing or able to seek care with us, potentially adversely affecting our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow. State and local executive actions in response to the pandemic, such as shelter-in-place orders, facility closures and quarantines, have in the past, and could in the future, impair our ability to operate or prevent people from seeking care from us. For example, local health departments have restricted our ability to take patients in specific markets for periods of time in reaction to perceived COVID-19 outbreaks. The imposition of a nationwide restriction on travel or other public activities by the federal government could have similar effects in all of our markets.
We may also be subject to lawsuits from patients, employees and others alleging exposure to COVID-19 at our facilities. For example, suits on behalf of two former patients alleging COVID-19 exposure have been brought against one of our hospitals. Such actions may involve large damage claims as well as substantial defense costs. Our professional and general liability insurance may not cover all claims against us.
Additionally, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”), signed into law on March 27, 2020, authorized the cash distribution of relief funds to healthcare providers in response to the pandemic. On April 10, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) began distributing CARES Act relief funds, for which we did not apply, to various of our bank accounts. We refused the CARES Act relief funds, and our banks returned all the funds to HHS. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “2021 Budget Act”), signed into law on December 27, 2020, provides for additional provider relief funds. We intend to refuse any additional provider relief funds distributed in the future whether authorized under the CARES Act or the 2021 Budget Act.
The foregoing and other disruptions to our business as a result of the pandemic have had and are likely to continue to have an adverse effect on our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Furthermore, assessing the CARES Act and numerous regulatory changes and formulating our response to the pandemic have required our management to devote extensive resources and are likely to continue to do so in the near future, which may negatively affect our ability to implement our business plan and respond to opportunities.
Other Factors
The situation relating to the pandemic, as well as its disruptions to and other potential effects on our business and financial results, remains dynamic. The broader implications for our business and results of operations remain uncertain and will depend on many factors outside our control, including, without limitation, the timing, extent, trajectory and duration of the pandemic, the development, distribution and administration of effective vaccines and treatments, the imposition of protective public safety measures, and the impact of the pandemic on the global economy and individual behaviors. Accordingly, the pandemic is expected to continue to have an adverse effect on our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Reimbursement Risks
Reductions or changes in reimbursement from government or third-party payors could adversely affect our Net operating revenues and other operating results.
We derive a substantial portion of our Net operating revenues from the Medicare program. See Item 1, Business, “Sources of Revenues,” for a table identifying the sources and relative payor mix of our revenues. In addition to many ordinary course reimbursement rate changes that the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), adopts each year as part of its annual rulemaking process for various healthcare provider categories, Congress and some state legislatures have periodically proposed significant changes in laws and regulations governing the healthcare system. Many of these changes have resulted in limitations on the increases in and, in some cases, significant roll-backs or reductions in the levels of payments to healthcare providers for services under many government reimbursement programs. There can be no assurance that future governmental initiatives will not result in pricing freezes, reimbursement reductions, or reduced levels of reimbursement increases that are less than the increases we experience in our costs of operation.
In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (as subsequently amended, the “2010 Healthcare Reform Laws”). Many provisions within the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws have impacted or could in the future impact our business, including Medicare reimbursement reductions and promotion of alternative payment models, such as accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) and bundled payment initiatives. The Trump administration and the United States Congress have previously attempted, and may in the future attempt, to change or repeal provisions of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws through both legislative and regulatory action. For example, on December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which eliminated the tax penalty for individuals for failing to enroll in health insurance beginning in 2019. On January 20, 2017, President Trump issued his first executive order titled “Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal,” that directs federal regulators to begin dismantling those laws through regulatory and policy-making processes and procedures, “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” In December 2018, a federal district court in Texas invalidated the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws in their entirety based on the elimination of the tax penalty but postponed enforcement of that decision pending appeal. On December 18, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court decision but remanded the case for additional analysis on the question of severability. A group of state attorneys general subsequently appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, which heard oral arguments in November 2020 but has yet to rule. The future of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws as well as the nature and substance of any other healthcare legislation remain uncertain. The Biden administration is likely to take a dramatically different approach to federal healthcare policy than the Trump administration. Any future changes may ultimately impact the provisions of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws discussed below or other laws or regulations that either currently affect, or may in the future affect, our business.
For Medicare providers like us, these laws include reductions in CMS’s annual adjustments to Medicare reimbursement rates, commonly known as a “market basket update.” In accordance with Medicare laws and statutes, CMS makes market basket updates by provider type in an effort to compensate providers for rising operating costs. The 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws required reductions, the last of which ended in 2019, in the annual market basket updates for hospital providers ranging from 10 to 75 basis points and for hospice agencies 30 basis points. For home health agencies, the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws directed CMS to improve home health payment accuracy through rebasing home health payments over four years starting in 2014. In addition, the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws require the market basket updates for hospital, home health, and hospice providers to be reduced by a productivity adjustment on an annual basis. The productivity adjustment equals the trailing 10-year average of changes in annual economy-wide private nonfarm business multi-factor productivity. To date, the productivity adjustments have typically resulted in decreases to the market basket updates ranging from 30 to 100 basis points. For fiscal year 2021, the IRF-PPS productivity adjustment resulted in no change to the market basket update.
Other federal legislation can also have a significant direct impact on our Medicare reimbursement. On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which provided for an automatic 2% reduction of Medicare program payments. This automatic reduction, known as “sequestration,” began affecting payments received after April 1, 2013. Sequestration has been extended by subsequent legislation, most recently by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, which was signed into law on August 2, 2019. Under current law each year through fiscal year 2029, the reimbursement we receive from Medicare, after first taking into account all annual payment adjustments including the market basket update, will be reduced by sequestration unless it is repealed or modified before then. The CARES Act temporarily suspended sequestration for the period of May 1 through December 31, 2020. The 2021 Budget Act extends the sequestration suspension through March 31, 2021.
Additionally, concerns held by federal policymakers about the federal deficit, national debt levels, or healthcare spending specifically could result in enactment of further federal spending reductions, further entitlement reform legislation affecting the Medicare program, and/or further reductions to provider payments. In October 2014, President Obama signed into law the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (the “IMPACT Act”). The IMPACT Act directs HHS, in consultation with healthcare stakeholders, to implement standardized data collection processes for post-acute quality and outcome measures. Although the IMPACT Act does not specifically call for the implementation of a new post-acute payment system, we believe this act lays the foundation for possible future post-acute payment policies that would be based on patients’ medical conditions and other clinical factors rather than the setting where the care is provided, also referred to as “site neutral” reimbursement. CMS has begun changing current post-acute payment systems to improve comparability of patient assessment data and clinical characteristics across settings, which will make it easier to create a unified payment system in the future. For example, CMS recently established new case-mix classification models for both home health, discussed further below, and skilled nursing facilities which rely on patient characteristics rather than the amount of therapy received to determine payments. Another example is CMS’s implementation of the new patient assessment measures for IRFs discussed below. The IMPACT Act also creates additional data reporting requirements for our hospitals and home health agencies. The precise details of these new reporting requirements, including timing and content, are being developed and implemented by CMS through the regulatory process that we expect will continue to take place over the next several years. We cannot quantify the potential effects of the IMPACT Act on us.
Each year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”), an independent agency, advises Congress on issues affecting Medicare and makes payment policy recommendations to Congress for a variety of Medicare payment systems including, among others, the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system (the “IRF-PPS”), the home health prospective payment system (“HH-PPS”) and the hospice payment system (“Hospice-PS”). MedPAC also provides comments to CMS on proposed rules, including the prospective payment system rules. Congress is not obligated to adopt MedPAC recommendations, and, based on outcomes in previous years, there can be no assurance Congress will adopt MedPAC’s recommendations in a given year. However, MedPAC’s recommendations have, and could in the future, become the basis for legislative or regulatory action.
In connection with CMS’s final rulemaking for the IRF-PPS and the HH-PPS in each year since 2008, MedPAC has recommended either no updates to payments or reductions to payments. In a March 2020 report to Congress, MedPAC recommended, among other things, legislative changes to eliminate the update to the fiscal year 2020 Medicare base payment rates for hospice, reduce by 7% the base payment rate under the HH-PPS, and reduce by 5% the base payment rate under IRF-PPS. In the March 2020 report, MedPAC also reiterated a previous recommendation for Congress to increase the IRF outlier payment pool, to be funded by reductions to base Medicare payments rates under the IRF-PPS. This proposal would adversely affect us as we have a relatively low percentage of outlier patients compared to other inpatient rehabilitation providers. The March 2020 report also called on the HHS Secretary to conduct focused medical record reviews on IRFs. In an October 2020 report, MedPAC called for future research into Medicare hospice payments and expressed concerns that aggregate payments substantially exceed costs and that there are outlier utilization patterns in the industry.
In a June 2018 report mandated by the IMPACT Act, MedPAC reiterated its recommendation that Congress adopt a unified payment system for all post-acute care (“PAC-PPS”) in lieu of separate systems for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”), skilled nursing facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, and home health agencies. A PAC-PPS would rely on “site neutral” reimbursement based on patients’ medical conditions and other clinical factors rather than the care settings. MedPAC found a PAC-PPS to be feasible and desirable but also suggested many existing regulatory requirements, including the 60% rule discussed below and the requirement for a minimum of three hours of therapy per day, should be waived or modified as part of implementing a PAC-PPS. MedPAC previously estimated, although we cannot verify the methodology or the accuracy of that estimate, a PAC-PPS would result in 15% and 1% decreases to IRF and home health reimbursements, respectively. As a precursor to a unified PAC-PPS, MedPAC discussed in November 2017 a potential recommendation to change the case-mix weights in each post-acute setting for 2019 and 2020 to a blend of the current setting specific weight and the proposed unified PAC-PPS weight, which MedPAC suggested would shift money from for-profit and freestanding IRFs to non-profit and hospital-based IRFs. MedPAC has also called for aligning Medicare regulatory requirements across post-acute providers, although the agency has acknowledged it could take years to complete this effort. Additionally, MedPAC previously has suggested that Medicare should ultimately move from fee-for-service reimbursement to more integrated delivery payment models.
MedPAC also recommended significant changes to the HH-PPS, some of which CMS incorporated into the new payment system mandated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, referred to as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (“PDGM”), and set out in the final rule for the 2019 HH-PPS. Beginning in 2020, PDGM replaced the prior 60-day episode of payment methodology with a 30-day payment period and eliminated therapy usage as a factor in setting payments (that is, more therapy visits led to higher reimbursement). CMS adopted a 4.4% reduction in the base payment rate for 2020 intended to offset the provider behavioral changes that CMS assumed PDGM would drive. The reimbursement and other changes associated with PDGM could have a significant impact on our home health agencies. Likewise, MedPAC’s previously recommended changes to the Hospice-PS, including a wage adjustment and a reduction in the hospice aggregate cap by 20%, could have a significant impact on our hospice agencies.
We cannot predict what alternative or additional deficit reduction initiatives, Medicare payment reductions, or post-acute care reforms, if any, will ultimately be adopted or enacted into law, or the timing or effect of any initiatives or reductions. Those initiatives or reductions would be in addition to many ordinary course reimbursement rate changes that CMS adopts each year as part of the market basket update rulemaking process for various provider categories. While we do not expect the drive toward integrated delivery payment models, value-based purchasing, and post-acute site neutrality in Medicare reimbursement to subside, there are well publicized efforts to repeal, supplement, or alter implementation of, various provisions of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws and substitute yet to be determined healthcare reforms. We cannot predict the nature or timing of any changes to the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws or other laws or regulations that either currently affect, or may in the future affect, our business.
There can be no assurance future governmental action will not result in substantial changes to, or material reductions in, our reimbursements. Similarly, we may experience material increases in our operating costs. For example, in 2021, we expect our wage and benefit costs to increase at a rate in excess of our aggregate Medicare reimbursement rate increase. In any given year, the net effect of statutory and regulatory changes may result in a decrease in our reimbursement rate, and that
decrease may occur at a time when our expenses are increasing. As a result, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. For additional discussion of how we are reimbursed by Medicare, see Item 1, Business, “Regulatory and Reimbursement Challenges” and “Sources of Revenues-Medicare Reimbursement.”
In addition, there are increasing pressures, including as a result of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws, from many third-party payors to control healthcare costs and to reduce or limit increases in reimbursement rates for medical services. Our relationships with managed care and nongovernmental third-party payors, such as health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations, are generally governed by negotiated agreements. These agreements set forth the amounts we are entitled to receive for our services. Our Net operating revenues and our ability to grow our business with these payors could be adversely affected if we are unable to negotiate and maintain favorable agreements with third-party payors.
Quality reporting requirements could adversely affect the Medicare reimbursement we receive.
The focus on alternative payment models and value-based purchasing of healthcare services has, in turn, led to more extensive quality of care reporting requirements. In many cases, the new reporting requirements are linked to reimbursement incentives. For example, under the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws, CMS established new quality data reporting, effective October 1, 2012, for all IRFs. A facility’s failure to submit the required quality data results in a two percentage point reduction to that facility’s annual market basket increase factor for payments made for discharges in the subsequent Medicare fiscal year. Hospitals began submitting quality data to CMS in October 2012. All of our hospitals have met the reporting deadlines to date resulting in no corresponding reimbursement reductions. Similarly, home health and hospice agencies are required to submit quality data to CMS each year, and the failure to do so in accordance with the rules will result in a two percentage point reduction in their market basket updates. For 2021, we expect four of our home health and hospice agencies will incur a reduction in their reimbursement rates.
As noted above, the IMPACT Act mandated that CMS adopt several new quality reporting measures for the various post-acute provider types. The adoption of additional quality reporting measures to track and report will require additional time and expense and could affect reimbursement in the future. In healthcare generally, the burdens associated with collecting, recording, and reporting quality data are increasing. Currently, CMS requires IRF and home health providers to track and submit patient assessment data to support the calculation of 17 and 20 quality reporting measures, respectively.
In 2015, CMS established a five-year home health value-based purchasing model in nine states to test whether incentives for better care can improve outcomes in the delivery of home health services. The model, which began in 2016, applies a reduction or increase to current Medicare-certified home health agency payments, depending on quality performance, made to agencies in Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Washington, Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee. CMS under the Trump administration approved the expansion of the model to be done through future rulemaking, but there can be no assurance of how, or if, CMS under the Biden administration will continue expansion. As of December 31, 2020, we have 45 home health locations in the states currently included in the model, which account for 22% of our home health Medicare revenue. Performance will be assessed based on several process, outcome, and care satisfaction measures, and the payment adjustments to be applied on an annual basis are set forth in the table below:
Performance Year Calendar Year for Payment Adjustment Maximum Payment Adjustment (+/-)
2018 2020 6%
2019 2021 7%
2020 2022 8%
To date, we have not experienced a decrease in Net operating revenues in excess of $0.5 million in any year. Based on 2020 performance data, we anticipate almost no impact to our 2021 reimbursements. There can be no assurance all of our hospitals and agencies will meet quality reporting requirements or quality performance in the future which may result in one or more of our hospitals or agencies seeing a reduction in its Medicare reimbursements. Regardless, we, like other healthcare providers, are likely to incur additional expenses in an effort to comply with additional and changing quality reporting requirements.
Reimbursement claims are subject to various audits from time to time and such audits may negatively affect our operations and our cash flows from operations.
We receive a substantial portion of our revenues from the Medicare program. Medicare reimbursement claims made by healthcare providers, including inpatient rehabilitation hospitals as well as home health and hospice agencies, are subject to audit from time to time by governmental payors and their agents, such as MACs that act as fiscal intermediaries for all
Medicare billings, auditors contracted by CMS, and insurance carriers, as well as the HHS Office of Inspector General (the “HHS-OIG”), CMS and state Medicaid programs. As noted above, the clarity and completeness of each patient medical file, some of which is the work product of a physician not employed by us, is essential to successfully challenging any payment denials. If the physicians working with our patients do not adequately document, among other things, their diagnoses and plans of care, our risks related to audits and payment denials in general are greater. Depending on the nature of the conduct found in such audits and whether the underlying conduct could be considered systemic, the resolution of these audits could have a material adverse effect in the aggregate on our financial position, results of operation and liquidity.
In the context of our inpatient rehabilitation business, one of the prevalent grounds for denying a claim or challenging a previously paid Medicare claim in an audit is that the patient’s treatment in a hospital was not medically necessary. The medical record must support that both the documentation and coverage criteria requirements are met for the hospital stay to be considered medically reasonable and necessary. Medical necessity is an assessment by an independent physician of a patient’s ability to tolerate and benefit from intensive multi-disciplinary therapy provided in an IRF setting. A Medicare claim may be denied or challenged based on an opinion of the auditor that the record did not evidence medical necessity for treatment in an IRF or lacked sufficient documentation to support the conclusion. In the past, we had a MAC that made determinations regarding medical necessity using its own uniquely restrictive interpretations of the CMS coverage rules or imposing otherwise arbitrary conditions not set out in the related rules, which resulted in a significant number of payment denials.
In some cases, we believe the reviewing party is not merely challenging the sufficiency of the medical record but is substituting its judgment of medical necessity for that of the attending physician or imposing documentation or other requirements that are not set out in the regulations. We argue that doing so is inappropriate and has no basis in law. When the government or its contractors reject the medical judgment of physicians or impose documentation and other requirements beyond the language of the statutes and regulations, patient access to inpatient rehabilitation as well as our Medicare reimbursement from the related claims may be adversely affected.
In August 2017, CMS announced the Targeted Probe and Educate (“TPE”) initiative. Under the TPE initiative, MACs use data analysis to identify healthcare providers with high claim error rates and items and services that have high national error rates. Once a MAC selects a provider for claims review, the initial volume of claims review is limited to 20 to 40 claims. The TPE initiative includes up to three rounds of claims review with corresponding provider education and a subsequent period to allow for improvement. If results do not improve sufficiently after three rounds, the MAC may refer the provider to CMS for further action, which may include extrapolation of error rates to a broader universe of claims or referral to a UPIC or RAC (defined below). As of December 31, 2020, none of our hospitals or agencies have progressed beyond the third round of reviews, so it is unclear how the review process after TPE would proceed. We cannot predict whether the TPE initiative or similar probes or reviews will materially impact our reimbursement or the timeliness of collections from Medicare in the future.
CMS has developed and instituted various audit programs under which CMS contracts with private companies to conduct claims and medical record audits. These audits are in addition to those conducted by existing MACs. Some contractors are paid a percentage of the overpayments recovered. One type of audit contractor, the Recovery Audit Contractors (“RACs”), receive claims data directly from MACs on a monthly or quarterly basis and are authorized to review previously paid claims. The recovery auditor look back period is limited to six months from the date of service in cases where the hospital submits the claim within three months of the date of service. CMS has previously operated a demonstration project that expanded the RAC program to include prepayment review of Medicare fee-for-service claims from primarily acute care hospitals. It is unclear whether CMS intends to conduct RAC prepayment reviews in the future and if so, what providers and claims would be the focus of those reviews.
RAC audits of IRFs initially focused on coding errors but subsequently expanded to include medical necessity and billing accuracy reviews. To date, the Medicare payments subject to RAC audit requests represent less than 1% of our Medicare patient discharges from 2010 to 2020. We have appealed substantially all RAC denials arising from these audits using the same process we follow for appealing pre-payment denials by MACs. CMS has authorized RACs to conduct complex reviews of the medical records associated with both IRF and home health reimbursement claims.
CMS has also established contractors known as the Uniform Program Integrity Contractors (“UPICs,” formerly known as “ZPICs”). These contractors are successors to the Program Safeguard Contractors and conduct audits with a focus on potential fraud and abuse issues. Like the RACs, the UPICs conduct audits and have the ability to refer matters to the HHS-OIG or the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Unlike RACs, however, UPICs do not receive a specific financial incentive based on the amount of the error. We have, from time to time, received UPIC record requests which have resulted in claim denials on paid claims. In some cases, the UPICs have extrapolated error rates to larger pools of our claims. In the most significant example to date, a UPIC denied less than $2 million in claims but recouped an extrapolated amount of approximately $30 million. We have appealed substantially all UPIC denials, including the recoupment noted above, arising
from these audits using the same process we follow for appealing other denials by contractors and will continue to contest the use of extrapolation in any context.
Audits may lead to assertions that we have been underpaid or overpaid by Medicare or have submitted improper claims in some instances. Such assertions may require us to incur additional costs to respond to requests for records and defend the validity of payments and claims and may ultimately require us to refund any amounts determined to have been overpaid. In some circumstances auditors have the authority to extrapolate denial rationales to large pools of claims not actually audited, which could greatly increase the impact of the audit. As a result, we may suffer reduced profitability, and we may have to elect not to accept patients and conditions physicians believe can benefit from inpatient rehabilitation. We cannot predict when or how these audit programs will affect us.
Our third-party payors may also, from time to time, request audits of the amounts paid, or to be paid, to us. We could be adversely affected in some of the markets where we operate if the auditing payor alleges substantial overpayments were made to us due to coding errors or lack of documentation to support medical necessity determinations. Similarly, there can be no assurance that our current or future MACs will not take restrictive interpretations of Medicare coverage rules. Because one MAC has jurisdiction over a significant number of our hospitals and our hospitals derive a substantial portion of their revenue from Medicare, the adoption of restrictive interpretations of coverage rules by that MAC could result in a large number of payment denials and materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Delays in the administrative appeals process associated with denied Medicare reimbursement claims could delay or reduce our reimbursement for services previously provided.
Ordinary course Medicare pre-payment denials by MACs, as well as denials resulting from widespread probes and audits, are subject to appeal by providers. We have historically appealed a majority of our denials. Due to the sheer number of appeals and various administrative inefficiencies, including a shortage of judges, appeals that are due to be resolved in a matter of months commonly take years to complete. For example, most of our appeals heard in 2020 related to denials received in 2014 and 2015. We believe the process for resolving individual Medicare payment claims that are denied will continue to take several years. Additionally, the number of new denials far exceeds the number of appeals resolved in recent years (except 2020 in which CMS suspended payment reviews for several months because of the public health emergency and 2018) as shown in the following summary of our inpatient rehabilitation segment activity:
New Denials Collections of Previously Denied Claims Revenue Reserve for New Denials
(In Millions)
2020 $1.7 $22.0 $1.3
2019 20.2 14.9 6.1
2018 10.2 14.1 3.0
2017 43.6 27.6 13.0
2016 74.9 26.2 20.6
We currently record our estimates for pre-payment denials and for post-payment audit denials that will ultimately not be collected as a component of Net operating revenues. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Net Operating Revenues,” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Given the continuing or increasing delays along with the increasing number of denials in the backlog, we may experience decreases in Net operating revenues and/or decreases in cash flow as a result of increasing accounts receivable, which may in turn lead to a change in the patients and conditions we treat. Any of these impacts could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, and liquidity. Although Congress has considered legislation to reform and improve the Medicare audit and appeals process, we cannot predict what, if any, legislation will be adopted or what, if any, effect that legislation might have on the audit and appeals process.
In May 2014, the American Hospital Association and others filed a lawsuit seeking to compel HHS to meet the statutory deadlines for adjudication of denied Medicare claims. In December 2016, the presiding federal district court judge in the lawsuit ordered HHS to eliminate the backlog of appeals by the end of 2020. HHS appealed the federal district court decision, and an appeals court remanded the order for further consideration of how HHS can eliminate the backlog. On November 1, 2018, the district court again ordered HHS to achieve the following reductions: 19% by the end of fiscal year 2019; 49% by the end of fiscal year 2020; 75% by the end of fiscal year 2021; and 100% by the end of fiscal year 2022.
The Medicare appeals adjudication process is administered by the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (“OMHA”). Beginning in March 2020, OMHA increased the frequency of hearings and the number of claims set at each hearing, which we believe adds to the substantive and procedural deficiencies in the appeals process. We are exploring various remedies to counter those deficiencies. We believe it is too early to determine what impact, if any, these recent changes in the appeals process will have on our long-term success rate or Net operating revenues.We cannot predict what, if any, further action CMS will take to reduce the backlog or how long it will take to resolve our pending appeals of payment denials that are part of the backlog.
Efforts to reduce payments to healthcare providers undertaken by third-party payors, conveners, and referral sources could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
Health insurers and managed care companies, including Medicare Advantage plans, may utilize certain third parties, known as conveners, to attempt to control costs. Conveners offer patient placement and care transition services to those payors as well as bundled payment participants, ACOs, and other healthcare providers with the intent of managing post-acute utilization and associated costs. Conveners may influence referral source decisions on which post-acute setting to recommend, as well as how long to remain in a particular setting. Given their focus on perceived financial savings, conveners customarily suggest that patients avoid higher acuity post-acute settings altogether or move as soon as practicable to lower acuity settings. Conveners are not healthcare providers and may suggest a post-acute setting or duration of care that may not be appropriate from a clinical perspective potentially resulting in a costly acute care hospital readmission.
We also depend on referrals from physicians, acute care hospitals, and other healthcare providers in the communities we serve. As a result of various alternative payment models, many referral sources are becoming increasingly focused on reducing post-acute costs by eliminating post-acute care referrals or referring patients to post-acute settings other than perceived high-cost rehabilitation hospitals, sometimes without understanding the potential impact on patient outcomes over an entire episode of care. Our ability to attract patients could be adversely affected if any of our hospitals or agencies fail to provide or maintain a reputation for providing high-quality care on a cost-effective basis as compared to other providers.
Changes in our payor mix or the acuity of our patients could adversely affect our Net operating revenues or our profitability.
Many factors affect pricing of our services and, in turn, our revenues. For example, in the inpatient rehabilitation segment, these factors include the treating facility’s urban or rural status, the length of stay, the payor and its applicable rate of reimbursement, and the patient’s medical condition and impairment status (acuity). In recent years, our inpatient rehabilitation segment has experienced a shift in payor mix to a slightly larger percentage of Medicaid patients. We could also experience a shift to a lower average patient acuity. Both of these shifts adversely affect pricing growth. See the “Segment Results of Operations-Inpatient Rehabilitation-Net Operating Revenues” section of Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. The expansion and growth of Medicaid resulting from provisions of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws have increased the number of those patients coming to us. Medicaid reimbursement rates are almost always the lowest among those of our payors, and frequently Medicaid patients come to us with other complicating conditions that make treatment more difficult and costly. We cannot predict the growth of, or changes to, Medicaid, but President Biden has stated that he favors extending public health insurance coverage to low income individuals currently ineligible for Medicaid. We cannot predict whether our payor mix will shift to lower reimbursement rate payors. In the future, we may experience shifts in our payor mix or the acuity of our patients that could adversely affect our pricing, Net operating revenues, and profitability.
Other Regulatory Risks
The ongoing evolution of the healthcare delivery system, including alternative payment models and value-based purchasing initiatives, in the United States may significantly affect our business and results of operations.
The healthcare industry in general is facing regulatory uncertainty around attempts to improve outcomes and reduce costs, including coordinated care and integrated delivery payment models. In an integrated delivery payment model, hospitals, physicians, and other care providers are reimbursed in a fashion meant to encourage coordinated healthcare on a more efficient, patient-centered basis. These providers are then paid based on the overall value and quality (as determined by outcomes) of the services they provide to a patient rather than the number of services they provide. While this is consistent with our goal and proven track record of being a high-quality, cost-effective provider, broad-based implementation of a new delivery payment model would represent a significant evolution or transformation of the healthcare industry, which may have a significant impact on our business and results of operations.
In recent years, HHS has been studying the feasibility of bundling, including conducting a voluntary, multi-year bundling pilot program to test and evaluate alternative payment methodologies. CMS’ voluntary Bundled Payments for Care
Improvement Advanced (“BPCI Advanced”) initiative began October 1, 2018, runs through December 31, 2023, and covers 29 types of inpatient and three types of outpatient clinical episodes, including stroke and hip fracture. Providers participating in BPCI Advanced are subject to a semi-annual reconciliation process where CMS compares the aggregate Medicare expenditures for all items and services included in a clinical episode against the target price for that type of episode to determine whether the participant is eligible to receive a portion of the savings, or is required to repay a portion of the payment above target. Accordingly, reimbursement may be increased or decreased, compared to what would otherwise be due, based on whether the total Medicare expenditures and patient outcomes meet, exceed or fall short of the targets.
Similarly, CMS has established per the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws several separate ACO programs, the largest of which is the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”), a voluntary ACO program in which hospitals, physicians, and other care providers pursue the delivery of coordinated healthcare on a more efficient, patient-centered basis. Conceptually, ACOs receive a portion of any savings generated above a certain threshold from care coordination as long as benchmarks for the quality of care are maintained. Under the MSSP, there are two ACO tracks from which participants can choose. Each track offers a different degree to which participants share any savings realized or any obligation to repay losses suffered. The ACO rules adopted by CMS are extremely complex and remain subject to further refinement by CMS. Based on the CMS data below, the MSSP has not experienced meaningful growth in recent years.
Number of ACOs Assigned Beneficiaries
(In Millions)
2021 477 10.7
2020 517 11.2
2019 487 10.4
2018 561 10.5
We continue to evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, appropriate BPCI Advanced and ACO participation opportunities for our hospitals and home health agencies. More than 35 of our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals have signed participation or preferred provider agreements with these alternative payment models. Those hospitals have treated only a limited number of patients under these alternative payment models to date. As of January 1, 2021, our home health and hospice segment is collaborating with approximately 140 alternative payment models, including Next Generation ACOs, MSSP ACOs, and Direct Contracting Models.
In December 2020, CMS announced another voluntary alternative payment model initiative, the Geographic Direct Contracting Model (the “GDCM”). Under the GDCM, Direct Contracting Entities (“DCEs”), which can include ACOs, health systems, health care provider groups, and health plans, will take responsibility for the total cost of care for all Medicare beneficiaries in a specific geographic region. DCEs may enter into agreements with preferred providers that provide for payment risk-sharing and offer Medicare beneficiaries benefits not otherwise available under traditional Medicare. The GDCM will be tested over a six-year period in four to ten regions. Many specifics of the GDCM remain unknown at this time, and it is not clear if, or how, the Biden administration will implement the GDCM.
On November 16, 2015, CMS published its final rule establishing the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (“CJR”) payment model, which holds acute care hospitals accountable for the quality of care they deliver to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries for lower extremity joint replacements (i.e., knees and hips) from surgery through recovery. The CJR originally was mandatory for the acute care hospitals in the 67 geographic areas covered. On November 30, 2017, CMS issued a final rule making the CJR voluntary in 33 of those areas. The CJR model’s original five-year term ended in December 2020, but CMS has proposed to extend the model for three years for most providers in the 34 geographic areas with mandatory participation. Under CJR, healthcare providers in the mandatory participation areas are paid under existing Medicare payment systems. However, the acute-care hospital where a joint replacement takes place are held accountable for the quality and costs of care for the entire episode of care - from the time of the original admission through 90 days after discharge. Depending on the quality and cost performance during the entire episode, the acute-care hospital may receive an additional payment or be required to repay Medicare a portion of the episode costs. As a result, CMS believes acute care hospitals are incented to work with physicians and post-acute care providers to ensure beneficiaries receive the coordinated care they need in an efficient manner. Acute care hospitals participating in the CJR model may enter into risk-sharing financial arrangements with post-acute providers, including IRFs and home health agencies. As of December 31, 2020, we operated 26 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the 34 areas with mandatory participation, and we operated 9 other hospitals in markets where an acute care hospital voluntarily participated in CJR. CJR has not had a material impact on those hospitals.
HHS and CMS continue to explore ways to encourage and facilitate increased participation in alternative payment models and value-based purchasing initiatives. For example, the HHS-OIG and CMS finalized rules in 2020 modernizing the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark law to, in part, promote a more coordinated, value-based system of care. The bundling and ACO initiatives have served as motivating factors for regulators and healthcare industry participants to identify and implement workable coordinated care and integrated delivery payment models. Broad-based implementation of a new delivery payment model would represent a significant transformation for us and the healthcare industry generally. The nature and timing of the evolution or transformation of the current healthcare system to coordinated care delivery and integrated delivery payment models and value-based purchasing remain uncertain. The development of new delivery and payment systems will almost certainly take significant time and expense. Many of the alternative approaches, including those discussed above and the home health value-based purchasing model discussed below, being explored may not work or could change substantially prior to any nationwide implementations. While only a small percentage of our business currently is or is anticipated to be subject to the alternative payment models discussed above, we cannot be certain these models will not be expanded or made standard or new models will not be implemented broadly.
Additionally, as the number and types of bundling, direct contracting, and ACO models increase, the number of Medicare beneficiaries who are treated in one of the models increases. Our willingness or inability to participate in integrated delivery payment and other alternative payment models and the referral patterns of other providers participating in those models may limit our access to Medicare patients who would benefit from treatment in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals or by home care services. In an attempt to reduce costs, ACOs may seek to discourage referrals to post-acute care all together. To the extent that acute care hospitals participating in those models do not perceive our quality of care or cost efficiency favorably compared to alternative post-acute providers, we may experience a decrease in volumes and Net operating revenues, which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. For further discussion of coordinated care and integrated delivery payment models and value-based purchasing initiatives, the associated challenges, and our efforts to respond to them, see the “Executive Overview-Key Challenges-Changes to Our Operating Environment Resulting from Healthcare Reform” section of Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Other legislative and regulatory initiatives and changes affecting the industry could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In addition to the legislative and regulatory actions that directly affect our reimbursement rates or further the evolution of the current healthcare delivery system, other legislative and regulatory changes, including as a result of ongoing healthcare reform, affect healthcare providers like us from time to time. For example, the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws provide for the expansion of the federal Anti-Kickback Law and the False Claims Act (the “FCA”) that, when combined with other recent federal initiatives, are likely to increase investigation and enforcement efforts in the healthcare industry generally. Changes include increased resources for enforcement, lowered burden of proof for the government in healthcare fraud matters, expanded definition of claims under the FCA, enhanced penalties, and increased rewards for relators in successful prosecutions. CMS may also suspend payment for claims prospectively if, in its opinion, credible allegations of fraud exist. The initial suspension period may be up to 180 days. However, the payment suspension period can be extended almost indefinitely if the matter is under investigation by the HHS-OIG or DOJ. Any such suspension would adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Some states in which we operate have also undertaken, or are considering, healthcare reform initiatives that address similar issues. While many of the stated goals of other federal and state reform initiatives are consistent with our own goal to provide care that is high-quality and cost-effective, legislation and regulatory proposals may lower reimbursements, increase the cost of compliance, decrease patient volumes, promote frivolous or baseless litigation, and otherwise adversely affect our business. We cannot predict what healthcare initiatives, if any, will be enacted, implemented or amended, or the effect any future legislation or regulation will have on us.
On September 30, 2019, CMS adopted a new rule as called for by the IMPACT Act that revises the discharge planning requirements applicable to our inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and home health agencies. Effective November 29, 2019, CMS now requires every hospital (including IRFs) to have a discharge planning process that focuses on patients’ goals and preferences and on preparing them and, as appropriate, their caregivers, to be active partners in their post-discharge care. For our hospitals, this rule requires instituting standardized procedures to identify those patients who are likely to suffer adverse health consequences upon discharge in the absence of adequate discharge planning and to provide a discharge planning evaluation for such patients to ensure that appropriate arrangements for post-hospital care will be made before discharge. At the time of discharge, a hospital must transfer or refer the patient, along with all necessary medical information pertaining to the patient’s current course of illness and treatment, post-discharge goals of care, and treatment preferences, to the appropriate post-acute care service providers and suppliers, facilities, agencies, and other outpatient service providers and practitioners responsible for the patient’s follow-up or ancillary care. Patients must also be informed of all post-acute providers in the area and, for patients enrolled in managed care organizations, in network providers must be identified if the hospital has that
information. Additional information must be provided to patients who are discharged home and referred for home health agency services or who are referred to other post-acute care services.
For home health agencies, the final rule includes several new requirements, including that home health agencies develop and implement an effective discharge planning process. Home health agencies must also send certain medical and other information to the post-discharge facility or health care practitioner, and comply with requests for additional information as may be necessary for treatment of the patient made by the receiving facility or health care practitioner. The rule will likely require implementation of new processes and modification of existing discharge forms and reports, and patient visits may need to be extended in order to accommodate patient education. We expect to incur additional one-time and recurring expenses in both our segments to comply with the new requirements, but at this time we cannot predict what the final impact will be. In areas where we are not part of a managed care network with significant enrollment, this discharge planning rule may negatively affect the number of patients choosing us.
In accordance with requirements adopted pursuant to the IMPACT Act, CMS implemented requirements to publish certain Medicare spending per beneficiary measures for each inpatient rehabilitation hospital in October 2016 and each home health agency in January 2017. The intent of tracking and publishing this data is to evaluate a given provider’s payment efficiency relative to the efficiency of the national median provider in that provider’s post-acute segment. CMS believes this measure will encourage improved efficiency and coordination of care in the post-acute setting by holding providers accountable for Medicare resource use during an episode of care. However, the measures may be misleading as they do not incorporate patient outcomes associated with those resources used. CMS has not proposed to compare payment efficiency across provider segments.
In June 2019, CMS commenced the Home Health Review Choice Demonstration (“RCD”) in Illinois. RCD is intended to test whether pre-claim review improves methods for the identification, investigation, and prosecution of Medicare fraud and whether the pre-claim review helps reduce expenditures while maintaining or improving quality of care. Under RCD, providers may choose pre-claim review or post-payment review of all Medicare claims submitted or elect not to participate, in which case they will incur a 25% payment reduction on all claims. If a home health agency elects to participate in the review and 90% or more of its claims are found to be valid during the six month pre-claim review period, that agency may then opt out of the RCD review, except for spot reviews of samples consisting of 5% of total claims. CMS implemented RCD in Ohio in September 2019. RCD was scheduled to expand to Texas in March 2020 and to North Carolina and Florida in May 2020. In late March 2020, however, CMS announced it was pausing the RCD for home health services in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas and that it would not start RCD in North Carolina and Florida until after the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. On August 21, 2020, CMS announced a new “phased-in approach” to the RCD due to the public health emergency and subsequently announced the delay of the phased-in participation of the RCD in Florida and North Carolina until March 31, 2021. As a result, North Carolina and Florida agencies may submit pre-claim review requests for billing periods beginning August 31, 2020. Cycle 1 of the RCD in Texas ended on September 30, 2020, and we achieved an affirmation rate greater than 90%.
We operate agencies (representing approximately 43% of our home health Medicare claims) in the five RCD states. We expect this demonstration project will require us to incur additional administrative and staffing costs and may impact the timeliness of claims payment given that Medicare administrative contractors in Illinois in a prior version of the project had difficulty processing pre-claim reviews on a timely basis. Accordingly, we may experience temporary decreases in Net operating revenues and in cash flow, or we may incur costs associated with patient care for which the Medicare claim is subsequently denied, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, and liquidity.
On December 14, 2020, CMS announced the proposal of a five-year review choice demonstration for inpatient rehabilitation services. CMS plans to implement the demonstration in Alabama, and then expand to Pennsylvania, Texas, and California in 2021. We operate 44 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals (representing approximately 33% of our IRF Medicare claims) in those four states. After the initial four states, CMS will expand the demonstration to include additional IRFs based on the Medicare Administrative Contractor to which those IRFs submit claims. Under the demonstration, participating IRFs would have an initial choice between pre-claim or post-payment review of 100% of claims submitted to demonstrate compliance with applicable Medicare coverage and clinical documentation requirements. Under the pre-claim review choice, services could begin prior to the submission of the review request and continue while the decision is being made. The pre-claim review request with required documentation must be submitted and reviewed before the final claim is submitted for payment. Under the post-payment review choice, IRFs would provide services, submit all claims for payment following their normal processes, and then submit required documentation for medical review. If 90% or more of its claims are found to be valid during the six-month review period, the IRF may then opt out of the RCD review, except for spot reviews of samples consisting of 5% of total claims. The IRF RCD would not create new documentation requirements. A number of key details on this proposal have yet to be released, and it is not clear if, or how, the Biden administration will implement this demonstration.
As discussed above, MedPAC makes healthcare policy recommendations to Congress and provides comments to CMS on Medicare payment related issues. Congress is not obligated to adopt MedPAC’s recommendations, and, based on outcomes in previous years, there can be no assurance Congress will adopt any given MedPAC recommendation. For example, in March and June 2020, MedPAC issued reports to Congress again recommending several possible changes, which MedPAC has advocated previously, to various post-acute payment systems. One possible change discussed was an increase to outlier payments to be funded by reductions to non-outlier payments rates under the IRF-PPS. This change would adversely impact us compared to other IRF providers because our hospitals have also historically averaged significantly less Medicare reimbursement for high cost outlier patients than other providers have averaged.
We cannot predict what legislative or regulatory reforms or changes, if any, will ultimately be enacted, or the timing or effect any of those changes or reforms will have on us. If enacted, they may be challenging for all providers and have the effect of limiting Medicare beneficiaries’ access to healthcare services and could have a material adverse impact on our Net operating revenues, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. For additional discussion of healthcare reform and other factors affecting reimbursement for our services, see Item 1, Business, “Regulatory and Reimbursement Challenges” and “Sources of Revenues-Medicare Reimbursement.”
Compliance with the extensive laws and government regulations applicable to healthcare providers requires substantial time, effort and expense, and if we fail to comply with them, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations.
Healthcare providers are required to comply with extensive and complex laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local government levels. These laws and regulations relate to, among other things:
•licensure, certification, enrollments, and accreditation;
•policies, either at the national or local level, delineating what conditions must be met to qualify for reimbursement under Medicare (also referred to as coverage requirements);
•coding and billing for services;
•requirements of the 60% compliance threshold under the 2007 Medicare Act;
•relationships with physicians and other referral sources, including physician self-referral and anti-kickback laws;
•quality of medical care;
•use and maintenance of medical supplies and equipment;
•maintenance and security of patient information and medical records;
•minimum staffing;
•acquisition and dispensing of pharmaceuticals and controlled substances; and
•disposal of medical and hazardous waste.
In the future, changes in these laws or regulations or the manner in which they are enforced could subject our current or past practices to allegations of impropriety or illegality or could require us to make changes in our hospitals, equipment, personnel, services, capital expenditure programs, operating procedures, and contractual arrangements, as well as the way in which we deliver home health and hospice services. Those changes could also affect reimbursements as well as future compliance, training, and staffing costs. For example, the 2021 Budget Act creates a new Medicare survey program for hospice agencies which will require a survey at least once every three years. Hospices that are found to be out of compliance could be subjected to new civil monetary penalties that accrue according to days out of compliance, as well as other forms of corrective action.
Examples of regulatory changes that can affect our business, beyond direct changes to Medicare reimbursement rates, can be found from time to time in CMS’s annual rulemaking. For example, the final rule for the fiscal year 2010 IRF-PPS implemented new coverage requirements which provided in part that a patient medical record must document a reasonable expectation that, at the time of admission to an IRF, the patient generally required and was able to participate in the intensive rehabilitation therapy services uniquely provided at IRFs. CMS has also taken the position that a patient’s medical file must appropriately document the rationale for the use of group therapies, as opposed to one-on-one therapy. Beginning on October 1,
2015, CMS instituted a new data collection requirement pursuant to which IRFs must capture the minutes and mode (individual, group, concurrent, or co-treatment) of therapy by specialty. Additionally, from time to time CMS has adopted changes in the medical conditions that will presumptively count toward the 60% compliance threshold to qualify for reimbursement as an inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
Of note, the HHS-OIG periodically updates a work plan that identifies areas of compliance focus. In recent years, the HHS-OIG work plans for IRFs have focused on, among other items, the appropriate utilization of concurrent and group therapy and adverse and temporary harm events occurring in IRFs. In January 2020, the HHS-OIG announced an active work plan to focus on incentives under the IRF-PPS to discharge patients prematurely to home health agencies and appropriate documentation to support claims by home health and hospice agencies, which is expected to be issued in 2021. In September 2020, the HHS-OIG announced an active work plan to focus on infection control at home health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, also expected to be issued in 2021. In January 2021, the HHS-OIG announced an audit to evaluate home health services provided by agencies during the COVID-19 public health emergency to determine which types of skilled services were furnished via telehealth, and whether those services were administered and billed in accordance with Medicare requirements. Another active work plan provides that the HHS-OIG will determine if hospice patients are receiving the required visits by registered nurses.
In September 2018, the HHS-OIG released a report purporting to identify a high error rate (approximately 80% of claims) among inpatient rehabilitation hospital admissions in a small sample of 220 claims. Based on its findings, the HHS-OIG extrapolated the error rate to the universe of inpatient rehabilitation claims and, among other things, recommended reevaluation of the IRF-PPS. However, that HHS-OIG report involved an extremely small sample size, was not a random sample of cases, included some citations to coverage requirements that did not match actual regulations, appeared to conflate technical documentation requirements with medical necessity determinations, and was at odds with actual MAC reviews of claims during that same timeframe which found substantially lower error rates. The HHS-OIG work plan, audit or similar future efforts could result in proposed changes to the payment systems for providers or increased denials of Medicare claims for patients notwithstanding the referring physicians’ judgment that treatment is appropriate.
As the recent HHS-OIG work plans demonstrate, the clarity and completeness of each patient medical file, some of which is the work product of a physician not employed by us, are essential to demonstrating our compliance with various regulatory and reimbursement requirements. For example, to support the determination that a patient’s IRF treatment was reasonable and necessary, the file must contain, among other things, an admitting physician’s assessment of the patient as well as a post-admission assessment by the treating physician and other information from clinicians relating to the plan of care and the therapies being provided. These physicians are not employees. They exercise independent medical judgment. We and our hospital medical directors, who are independent contractors, provide training on a regular basis to the physicians who treat patients at our hospitals regarding appropriate documentation. However, we ultimately do not and cannot control the physicians’ medical judgment. In connection with subsequent payment audits and investigations, there can be no assurance as to what opinion a third party may take regarding the status of patient files or the physicians’ medical judgment evidenced in those files.
On March 4, 2013, we received document subpoenas from an office of the HHS-OIG addressed to four of our hospitals. On April 24, 2014, we received document subpoenas relating to an additional seven of our hospitals. Those subpoenas requested documents, including copies of patient medical records, related to reimbursement claims submitted during periods ranging from January 2008 through December 2013. The associated investigation led by DOJ was based on whistleblower claims of alleged improper or fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid and requested documents and materials relating to practices, procedures, protocols and policies of certain pre- and post-admissions activities at these hospitals including marketing functions, pre-admission screening, post-admission physician evaluations, patient assessment instruments, individualized patient plans of care, and compliance with the Medicare 60% rule. Under the Medicare rule commonly referred to as the “60% Rule,” 60% or more of the patients of an IRF must have at least one of a specified list of medical conditions in order to be reimbursed at the IRF-PPS payment rates, rather than at the lower acute care hospital payment rates. We settled the DOJ investigation, together with the related qui tam or whistleblower lawsuits, in 2019 for a total payment of $48 million. In return for the settlement payment, the plaintiffs dismissed with prejudice their pending qui tam claims, and DOJ provided Encompass Health and all its subsidiaries with a release from civil liability.
Although we have invested, and will continue to invest, substantial time, effort, and expense in implementing and maintaining training programs as well as internal controls and procedures designed to ensure regulatory compliance, we have in the past been, and could in the future be, required to return portions of reimbursements for discharges alleged after the fact to have not been appropriate under the applicable reimbursement rules and change our patient admissions practices going forward. We could also be subjected to other liabilities, including (1) criminal penalties, (2) civil penalties, including monetary penalties and the loss of our licenses to operate one or more of our hospitals, and (3) exclusion or suspension of one or more of our
hospitals from participation in the Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal and state healthcare programs, which, if lengthy in duration and material to us, could potentially trigger a default under our credit agreement or debt instruments.
Because Medicare comprises a significant portion of our Net operating revenues, failure to comply with the laws and regulations governing the Medicare program and related matters, including anti-kickback and anti-fraud requirements, could materially and adversely affect us. As discussed above in connection with the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws, the federal government has in the last couple of years made compliance enforcement and fighting healthcare fraud top priorities. In the past few years, DOJ and HHS as well as federal lawmakers have significantly increased efforts to ensure strict compliance with various reimbursement related regulations as well as combat healthcare fraud. DOJ has pursued and recovered record amounts based on alleged healthcare fraud. The increased enforcement efforts have frequently included aggressive arguments and interpretations of laws and regulations that pose risks for all providers. For example, the federal government has increasingly asserted that incidents of erroneous billing or record keeping may represent violations of the FCA. Human error and oversight in record keeping and documentation, particularly where those activities are the responsibility of non-employees, are always a risk in business, and healthcare providers and independent physicians are no different. Additionally, the federal government has been willing to challenge the medical judgment of independent physicians in determining issues such as the medical necessity of a given treatment plan.
Settlements of alleged violations or imposed reductions in reimbursements, substantial damages and other remedies assessed against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. Even the assertion of a violation, depending on its nature, could have a material adverse effect upon our stock price or reputation and could cost us significant time and expense to defend.
The use of sub-regulatory guidance, statistical sampling, and extrapolation by CMS, Medicare contractors, HHS-OIG, and DOJ to deny claims, expand enforcement claims, and advocate for changes in reimbursement policy increases the risk that we could experience reduced revenue, suffer penalties, or be required to make significant changes to our operations.
Because Medicare comprises a significant portion of our Net operating revenues, failure to comply with the laws and regulations governing the Medicare program and related matters, including anti-kickback and anti-fraud requirements, could materially and adversely affect us. Our ability to operate in a compliant manner impacts the claims denials, compliance enforcement, and regulatory processes discussed in other risks above. The federal government’s reliance on sub-regulatory guidance, such as handbooks, FAQs, internal memoranda, and press releases, presents a unique challenge to compliance efforts. Such sub-regulatory guidance purports to explain validly promulgated regulations but often expands or supplements existing regulations without constitutionally and statutorily required notice and comment and other procedural protections. Without procedural protections, sub-regulatory guidance poses a risk above and beyond reasonable efforts to follow validly promulgated regulations, particularly when the agency or MAC seeking to enforce such sub-regulatory guidance is not the agency or MAC issuing the guidance and therefore not as familiar with the substance and nature of the underlying regulations or even clinical issues involved.
On August 6, 2020, CMS issued a proposed rule invoking a rarely used retroactive-rulemaking authority to support CMS’s application of a Medicare payment methodology that the U.S. Supreme Court found to be procedurally improper in Azar v. Allina Health Services in 2019. CMS’ invocation of its retroactive-rulemaking authority in response to this Supreme Court decision is an unfavorable precedent for providers because it demonstrates a willingness by CMS to revive adverse reimbursement actions after those actions are deemed deficient on administrative procedural grounds.
Additionally, the federal government is increasingly turning to statistical sampling and extrapolation to expand claims denials and enforcement efforts and advocate for changes in reimbursement policy. Through sampling and extrapolation, the government takes a review of a small number of reimbursement claims and generalizes the results of that review to a much broader universe of claims, which can result in significant increases in the aggregate number and value of claims at issue. Increasing use of extrapolation can be found in payment review audits, such as those conducted by RACs and UPICs. In addition to payment reviews, government agencies may allege compliance violations, including submission of false claims, based on sampling and extrapolation and seek to change reimbursement policy. For example, the HHS-OIG issued a report in September 2018 purporting to identify a high error rate (approximately 80% of claims) among inpatient rehabilitation hospital admissions in a small sample of 220 claims. Based on its findings, the HHS-OIG extrapolated the error rate to the universe of inpatient rehabilitation claims and, among other things, recommended reevaluation of the IRF-PPS. However, the HHS-OIG report involves an extremely small sample size, is not a random sample of cases, includes incorrect references to coverage requirement regulations, appears to conflate technical documentation requirements with medical necessity determinations, and is at odds with actual MAC reviews of claims during that same timeframe which found substantially lower error rates. Notwithstanding the technical statistical flaws that can arise in sampling small groups of claims and the extremely problematic nature of extrapolation in the context of individualized decisions of medical judgment as some courts have noted, sampling and extrapolation pose a growing risk to healthcare providers in the form of more significant claims of overpayments and increased
legal costs to defend against these problematic regulatory practices. In a recent federal court case, the fifth circuit court of appeals ruled in favor of CMS and affirmed the application of extrapolation errors identified in a sample of claims to support larger claims for overpayment. Any associated loss of revenue or increased legal costs could materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
The Hospital Pricing Transparency Rule could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Effective on January 1, 2021, the hospital price transparency rule requires hospitals to publish on the internet in a consumer-friendly format their standard charges based on negotiated rates for all items and services and up to 300 common shoppable services. Shoppable services are those routinely provided in non-urgent situations and include those ancillary services that customarily accompany the primary service being provided. The charges for an individual item or service to be published include:
•gross charge (charge as reflected on a hospital’s chargemaster, absent any discounts),
•payer-specific negotiated charge (charge negotiated with a third party payer for an item or service),
•de-identified minimum negotiated charge (lowest charge negotiated with all third-party payers),
•de-identified maximum negotiated charge (highest charge negotiated with all third-party payers), and
•discounted cash price (charge that applies to an individual who pays cash).
This rule imposes significant initial and ongoing burdens on hospitals to track and publish various billing information. In the event a hospital fails to comply with the new requirements and does not complete the prescribed corrective action, CMS may impose a civil monetary penalty of up to $300 per day.
Many states have also passed or are debating legislation establishing price transparency websites or mandating that health plans or hospitals make price information available to consumers. The associated reporting obligations vary from state to state. We cannot predict what the adverse effects, if any, of this new CMS rule or any state law or regulation, such as the effect on relations with managed care payors and referral sources, may be for us.
Efforts to comply with regulatory mandates to increase the use of electronic health data and health system interoperability may lead to enforcement and negative publicity which could adversely affect our business.
For many years, a primary focus of the healthcare industry has been to increase the use of electronic health records, or “EHR,” and the sharing of the health data among providers, payors and other members of the industry. The federal government has been a significant driver of that initiative through rules and regulations. In 2009, as part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the federal government set aside $27 billion of incentives for hospitals and providers to adopt EHR systems. In 2020, CMS and HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (“ONC”) finalized policy changes implementing interoperability, information blocking, and patient access provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act and supporting the MyHealthEData initiative, designed to allow patients to access their health claims information electronically through the application of their choosing. The companion rules will transform the way in which healthcare providers, health information technology developers, health information exchanges/health information networks (“HIEs/HINs”), and health plans share patient information. For example, the ONC rule prohibits healthcare providers, health IT developers, and HIEs/HINs from engaging in practices that are likely to interfere with, prevent, materially discourage, or otherwise inhibit the access, exchange or use of electronic health information, also known as “information blocking.” The ONC rule also requires regulated actors to respond to requests for electronic health information in the content and manner requested, with some exceptions. Enforcement of ONC’s and CMS’ new health information access, exchange, and use standards promulgated in the 2020 rules will begin in 2021, and noncompliance can result in civil monetary penalties, exclusion from participation in federal health care programs and other appropriate “disincentives” that have not yet been identified by the agencies. The HHS-OCR patient right of access initiative, which began in late 2019 and has similar objectives to the new ONC initiative, such as promoting and enforcing patient access to health information, has led to 13 settlements of enforcement actions to date.
The goals of increased use of electronic health data and interoperability are improved quality of care and lower healthcare costs generally. However, increased use of electronic health data and interoperability inherently magnifies the risk of security breaches involving that data and information systems, which risk is discussed above. Additionally, the sharing of health information, that is interoperability, has received increasingly negative publicity. There is at least one well publicized instance where organizations received significant negative publicity for sharing health data despite having appeared to comply in all respects with privacy law. There can be no assurance that our efforts to improve the care we deliver and to comply with the law
through increasing use of electronic data and system interoperability will not receive negative publicity that may materially and adversely affect our ability to get patient referrals or enter into joint ventures with other providers or may lead to greater regulatory scrutiny. Negative publicity may also lead to federal or state regulation that conflicts with current federal policy and interferes with the healthcare industry’s efforts to improve care and reduce costs through use of electronic data and interoperability.
If any of our hospitals or home health or hospice agencies fail to comply with the Medicare enrollment requirements or conditions of participation, that hospital or agency could be terminated from the Medicare program.
Each of our hospitals and home health and hospice agencies must comply with extensive enrollment requirements and conditions of participation for the Medicare program. If any fail to meet any of the Medicare enrollment requirements or conditions of participation, we may receive a notice of deficiency from the applicable survey agency or contractor, as applicable. If that hospital or agency then fails to institute an acceptable plan of correction and correct the deficiency within the applicable correction period, it could lose the ability to bill Medicare. A hospital or agency could be terminated from the Medicare program if it fails to address the deficiency within the applicable correction period. If CMS terminates one hospital or agency, it may increase its scrutiny of others under common control.
On September 5, 2019, CMS released a final rule that will implement over a period time additional provider enrollment provisions and create several new revocation and denial authorities in an attempt to bolster CMS’ efforts to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. A few provisions of this new rule could significantly increase the complexity of filing enrollment applications for all of our provider entities, including increased burden related to tracking and identifying required reporting data from our joint venture partners. This rule requires Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers to disclose any current or previous (in the last five years), direct or indirect affiliation with a provider or supplier that has ever had a disclosable event. A disclosable event is any uncollected debt to Medicare or Medicaid, payment suspension under a federal health care program, denial, revocation or termination of enrollment (even if it is under appeal), or exclusion by the HHS-OIG from participation in a federal health care program. The rule also broadens the definition of an affiliation, including many indirect ownership or control situations such as ownership interests in a publicly traded company. If CMS determines an affiliation with a disclosable event poses an undue risk of fraud, waste or abuse, then the provider reporting that affiliation may be subject to exclusion from Medicare. Currently, information regarding uncollected debt, payment suspensions and enrollment actions are not generally available, so obtaining such information on affiliates could prove difficult or impossible in some situations. CMS intends to issue further guidance on the level of effort it expects providers to undertake to uncover information on their affiliates.
Under this new rule, CMS may revoke a provider’s Medicare enrollment, including all of the provider’s locations, if the provider bills for services performed at or items furnished from one location that it knew or should have known did not comply with Medicare enrollment requirements, including making the disclosures discussed above. CMS has the ability to prevent applicants from enrolling in the program for up to three years if a provider is found to have submitted false or misleading information in its initial enrollment application. Additionally, CMS can now block providers and suppliers who are revoked from re-entering the Medicare program for up to 10 years. CMS may also revoke a provider’s enrollment if it fails to report on a timely basis any change in ownership or control, revocation or suspension of a federal or state license or certification, or any other change in its enrollment data.
Any termination of one or more of our hospitals or agencies from the Medicare program for failure to satisfy the enrollment requirements or conditions of participation could materially adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Other Operational and Financial Risks
The proper function, availability, and security of our information systems are critical to our business and failure to maintain proper function, availability, or security of our information systems or protect our data against unauthorized access could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
We are and will remain dependent on the proper function, availability and security of our and third-party information systems, including our electronic clinical information system, referred to as ACE-IT, which plays a substantial role in the operations of the hospitals, and the information systems currently in use by our home health and hospice business. We undertake measures to protect the safety and security of our information systems and the data maintained within those systems, and we periodically test the adequacy of our security and disaster recovery measures. We have implemented administrative, technical and physical controls on our systems and devices in an attempt to prevent unauthorized access to that data, which includes patient information subject to the protections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and other sensitive information. For additional discussion of these laws, see Item 1, Business, “Regulation.”
We expend significant capital to protect against the threat of security breaches, including cyber attacks, email phishing schemes, malware and ransomware. Substantial additional expenditures may be required to respond to and remediate any problems caused by breaches, including the unauthorized access to or theft of patient data and protected health information stored in our information systems and the introduction of computer malware or ransomware to our systems. We also provide our employees annual training and regular reminders on important measures they can take to prevent breaches and other cyber threats, including phishing schemes. We routinely identify attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems. However, given the rapidly evolving nature and proliferation of cyber threats, there can be no assurance our training and network security measures or other controls will detect, prevent or remediate security or data breaches in a timely manner or otherwise prevent unauthorized access to, damage to, or interruption of our systems and operations. For example, it has been widely reported that many well-organized international interests, in certain cases with the backing of sovereign governments, are targeting the theft of patient information and the disruption of healthcare services through the use of advance persistent threats. Similarly, in recent years, several hospitals have reported being victims of ransomware attacks in which they lost access to their systems, including clinical systems, during the course of the attacks. In 2020, one large, national healthcare system reported a ransomware attack that forced its facilities to operate without access to information systems for some time. We are likely to face attempted attacks in the future. Accordingly, we may be vulnerable to losses associated with the improper functioning, breach or unavailability of our and our vendors’ information systems, including systems used in acquired operations, and third-party systems we use.
In December 2020, it was reported that a sophisticated, well-funded state-sponsored threat actor implanted a backdoor security vulnerability in a widely used network monitoring software sold by SolarWinds, which software was then distributed to thousands of customers, including numerous government agencies and companies in the private sector, via an automatic update platform used to push out new software updates. Three of our servers downloaded the compromised software. The vulnerability was designed to enable hackers to install and execute additional malware that could be used to exfiltrate and facilitate remote access to data possessed by these government agencies and companies. The full scope of the security threat and extent of exploitation of the vulnerability is not yet known. Promptly after we learned of the compromised SolarWinds software update, we identified, isolated and remediated the malicious update then reviewed and ensured we were implementing the recommended security practices provided by industry and government experts. We also conducted a forensics investigation using all the indicators of compromise provided by leading security experts. Our forensic analysis to date has discovered no indicators of compromise. We continue to monitor this situation closely and work with our cyber security vendors, as well as industry and governmental cyber security partners combating this threat.
To date, we are not aware of having experienced a material compromise from a cyber breach or attack. However, given the increasing cyber security threats in the healthcare industry, there can be no assurance we will not experience business interruptions; data loss, ransom, misappropriation or corruption; theft or misuse of proprietary, patient or other personally identifiable information; or litigation, investigation, or regulatory action related to any of those, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our patient care, financial position, and results of operations and harm our business reputation.
A compromise of our network security measures or other controls, or of those businesses or vendors with whom we interact, which results in confidential information being accessed, obtained, damaged or used by unauthorized persons or unavailability of systems necessary to the operation of our business, could impact patient care, harm our reputation, and expose us to significant remedial costs as well as regulatory actions (fines and penalties) and claims from patients, financial institutions, regulatory and law enforcement agencies, and other persons, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. The nature of our business requires the sharing of protected health information and other sensitive information among employees and healthcare partners, many of whom carry
and access portable devices outside of our physical locations, which in turn increases the risk of loss, theft or inadvertent disclosure of that information. Moreover, a security breach, or threat thereof, could require that we expend significant resources to repair or improve our information systems and infrastructure and could distract management and other key personnel from performing their primary operational duties. In the case of a material breach or cyber attack, the associated expenses and losses may exceed our current insurance coverage for such events. Some adverse consequences are not insurable, such as reputational harm and third-party business interruption. Failure to maintain proper function, security, or availability of our information systems or protect our data against unauthorized access could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
ACE-IT is subject to a licensing, implementation, technology hosting, and support agreement with Cerner Corporation. Similarly, we have an agreement to license, host, and support a comprehensive home care management and clinical information system, Homecare HomebaseSM. In addition, we have a number of partners and non-software vendors with whom we share data in order to provide patient care and otherwise operate our business. In fact, federal laws and regulations require interoperability among healthcare entities in many circumstances. Our inability, or the inability of our partners or vendors, to continue to maintain and upgrade information systems, software, and hardware could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations, including affecting patient care. A security breach or other system failure involving Cerner, Homecare Homebase or another third-party with whom we share data or system connectivity could compromise our patient data or proprietary information or disrupt our ability to operate. In addition, costs, unexpected problems, and interruptions associated with the implementation or transition to new systems or technology or with adequate support of those systems or technology across numerous hospitals and agencies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
We face intense competition for patients from other healthcare providers.
We operate in highly competitive, fragmented inpatient rehabilitation and home health and hospice industries. Although we are the nation’s largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in terms of patients treated, revenues, and number of hospitals, in any particular market we may encounter competition from local or national entities with longer operating histories or other competitive advantages. For example, acute care hospitals, including those owned and operated by large public companies, may choose to expand or begin offering post-acute rehabilitation services. Given that approximately 91% of our hospitals’ referrals come from acute care hospitals, that increase in competition could materially and adversely affect our admission referrals in the related markets. There are also large acute care systems that may have more resources available to compete than we have. Other providers of post-acute care services may attempt to become competitors in the future. For example, some nursing homes, including at least one public company operator, have been marketing themselves as offering certain rehabilitation services, even though nursing homes are not required to offer the same level of care, and are not licensed, as hospitals.
In the home health and hospice services industries, our primary competition comes from the home health business owned in part by a large insurance company, three other large public home health companies, locally owned private home health companies or acute care hospitals with adjunct home health services and typically varies from market to market. We also compete with a variety of other companies in providing home health and hospice services, some of which, including several large public companies, may have greater financial and other resources and may be more established in their respective communities. One public home health company has a strategy that emphasizes joint ventures with acute care hospitals, including a number of joint ventures with large systems, which frequently serve as the referral sources for home health patients in specific markets. Similarly, there is a large insurance company that offers Medicare Advantage coverage and owns an interest in a home health business that is the largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services. Additionally, nursing homes compete for referrals in some instances when the patients may be suitable for home-based care.
Competing companies may offer newer or different services from those we offer or have better relationships with referring physicians and may thereby attract patients who are presently, or would be candidates for, receiving our inpatient rehabilitation, home health, or hospice services. The other public companies and the insurance companies have or may obtain significantly greater marketing and financial resources or other advantages of scale than we have or may obtain. Relatively few barriers to entry exist in most of our local markets. Accordingly, other companies, including hospitals and other healthcare organizations that are not currently providing competing services, may expand their services to include inpatient rehabilitation, home health, hospice care, community care, or similar services.
There can be no assurance this competition, or other competition which we may encounter in the future, will not adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In addition, from time to time, there are efforts in states with certificate of need (“CON”) laws to weaken those laws, which could potentially increase competition in those states. For example, in 2019, Florida enacted legislation to repeal CON regulations for several provider types, including IRFs, in two stages. Effective July 1, 2019, existing IRFs became eligible to expand without first obtaining a CON. Effective July 1, 2021, new IRFs can operate without first obtaining a CON. Conversely, competition and statutory procedural
requirements in some CON states may inhibit our ability to expand our operations in those states. For a breakdown of the CON status of the states and territories in which we have operations, see Item 2, Properties.
If we are unable to maintain or develop relationships with patient referral sources, our growth and profitability could be adversely affected.
Our success depends in large part on referrals from physicians, hospitals, case managers and other patient referral sources in the communities we serve. By law, referral sources cannot be contractually obligated to refer patients to any specific provider. However, there can be no assurance that individuals will not attempt to steer patients to competing post-acute providers or otherwise limit our access to potential referrals. The establishment of joint ventures or networks between referral sources, such as acute care hospitals, and other post-acute providers may hinder patient referrals to us. The growing emphasis on integrated care delivery across the healthcare continuum increases that risk.
Our growth and profitability depend on our ability to establish and maintain close working relationships with patient referral sources and to increase awareness and acceptance of the benefits of inpatient rehabilitation, home health, and hospice care by our referral sources and their patients. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to maintain our existing referral source relationships or that we will be able to develop and maintain new relationships in existing or new markets. Our loss of, or failure to maintain, existing relationships or our failure to develop new relationships could adversely affect our ability to grow our business and operate profitably.
We may have difficulty completing investments and transactions that increase our capacity consistent with our growth strategy.
We are selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions of, and in some instances joint ventures with, other healthcare providers. We may face limitations on our ability to identify sufficient acquisition or other development targets and to complete those transactions to meet goals. In the home health industry, there is significant competition among acquirors attempting to secure the acquisition of companies that have a large number of locations. Our large home health competitors may have the ability to out bid us for acquisitions. In the inpatient rehabilitation industry, the costs of constructing new hospitals may be increasing faster than the general inflation rate. In many states, the need to obtain governmental approvals, such as a CON or an approval of a change in ownership, may represent a significant obstacle to completing transactions. Additionally, in states with CON laws, it is not unusual for third-party providers to challenge the initial awards of CONs, the increase in the number of approved beds in an existing CON, or the expansion of the area served, and the adjudication of those challenges and related appeals may take many years. These factors may delay, or increase the cost to us associated with, any acquisition or de novo development or prevent us from completing one or more acquisitions or de novo developments.
We may make investments or complete transactions that could expose us to unforeseen risks and liabilities.
Investments, acquisitions, joint ventures or other development opportunities identified and completed may involve material cash expenditures, debt incurrence, operating losses, amortization of certain intangible assets of acquired companies, issuances of equity securities, liabilities, and expenses, some of which are unforeseen, that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations and liquidity. Acquisitions, investments, and joint ventures involve numerous risks, including:
•limitations, including state CONs as well as anti-trust, Medicare, and other regulatory approval requirements, on our ability to complete such acquisitions, particularly those involving not-for-profit providers, on terms, timetables, and valuations reasonable to us;
•limitations in obtaining financing for acquisitions at a cost reasonable to us;
•difficulties integrating acquired operations, personnel, and information systems, and in realizing projected revenues, efficiencies and cost savings, or returns on invested capital;
•entry into markets, businesses or services in which we may have little or no experience;
•diversion of business resources or management’s attention from ongoing business operations; and
•exposure to undisclosed or unforeseen liabilities of acquired operations, including liabilities for failure to comply with healthcare laws and anti-trust considerations in specific markets as well as risks and liabilities related to previously compromised information systems.
As part of our development activities, we intend to build new, or de novo, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. The construction of new hospitals involves numerous risks, including the receipt of all zoning and other regulatory approvals, such as a CON where necessary, construction delays and cost over-runs and unforeseen environmental liability exposure. Once built, new hospitals must undergo the state and Medicare certification process, the duration of which may be beyond our control. We may be unable to operate newly constructed hospitals as profitably as expected, and those hospitals may involve significant additional cash expenditures and operating expenses that could, in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
We may not be able to successfully integrate acquisitions or realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions.
We may undertake strategic acquisitions from time to time. For example, we completed the acquisitions of the home health and hospice business of Camellia Heathcare and Alacare Home Health and Hospice in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Prior to consummation of any acquisition, the acquired business will have operated independently of us, with its own procedures, corporate culture, locations, employees and systems. We expect to integrate acquired businesses into our existing business utilizing certain common information systems, operating procedures, administrative functions, financial and internal controls and human resources practices to the extent practicable. There may be substantial difficulties, costs and delays involved in the integration of an acquired business with our business. Additionally, an acquisition could cause disruption to our business and operations and our relationships with customers, employees and other parties. In some cases, the acquired business has itself grown through acquisitions, and there may be legacy systems, operating policies and procedures, financial and administrative practices yet to be fully integrated. To the extent we are attempting to integrate multiple businesses at the same time, we may not be able to do so as efficiently or effectively as we initially anticipate. The failure to successfully integrate on a timely basis any acquired business with our existing business could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
We anticipate our acquisitions will result in benefits including, among other things, increased revenues. However, acquired businesses may not contribute to our revenues or earnings to the extent anticipated, and any synergies we expect may not be realized after the acquisitions have been completed. If the acquired businesses underperform and any underperformance is other than temporary, we may be required to take an impairment charge. Failure to achieve the anticipated benefits could result in the diversion of management’s time and energy and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
Competition for staffing, shortages of qualified personnel, union activity or other factors may increase our labor costs and reduce profitability.
Our operations are dependent on the efforts, abilities, and experience of our medical personnel, such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. We compete with other healthcare providers in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel responsible for the daily operations of each of our locations. In some markets, the lack of availability of medical personnel is a significant operating issue facing all healthcare providers. This issue may be exacerbated if immigration is more limited in the future. As discussed above in the COVID-19 pandemic risk factor, the pandemic has affected the availability of clinical staff in many markets from time to time. A shortage may require us to continue to enhance wages and benefits to recruit and retain qualified personnel or to contract for more expensive temporary personnel. We also depend on the available labor pool of semi-skilled and unskilled employees in each of the markets in which we operate.
If our labor costs increase, we may not experience reimbursement rate or pricing increases to offset these additional costs. Because a significant percentage of our revenues consists of fixed, prospective payments, our ability to pass along increased labor costs is limited. In particular, if labor costs rise at an annual rate greater than our net annual market basket update from Medicare, as is expected to happen in 2021, or we experience a significant shift in our payor mix to lower rate payors such as Medicaid, our results of operations and cash flows will be adversely affected. Conversely, decreases in reimbursement revenues, such as with sequestration and the PDGM reimbursement rate reductions, may limit our ability to increase compensation or benefits to the extent necessary to retain key employees, in turn increasing our turnover and associated costs. Union activity is another factor that may contribute to increased labor costs. We currently have a minimal number of union employees, so an increase in labor union activity could have a significant impact on our labor costs. Our failure to recruit and retain qualified medical personnel, or to control our labor costs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
We are a defendant in various lawsuits, and may be subject to liability under qui tam cases, the outcome of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We operate in a highly regulated industry in which healthcare providers are routinely subject to litigation. As a result, various lawsuits, claims, and legal and regulatory proceedings have been and can be expected to be instituted or asserted against us. We are a defendant in a number of lawsuits, most of which are general and professional liability matters inherent in treating patients with medical conditions. Our more significant lawsuits and investigations, are discussed in Note 18, Contingencies and Other Commitments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Substantial damages, fines, or other remedies assessed against us or agreed to in settlements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, including indirectly as a result of the covenant defaults under our credit agreement or debt instruments or other claims such as those in securities actions. Additionally, the costs of defending litigation and investigations, even if frivolous or nonmeritorious, could be significant.
The FCA allows private citizens, called “relators,” to institute civil proceedings on behalf of the United States alleging violations of the FCA. These lawsuits, also known as “whistleblower” or “qui tam” actions, can involve significant monetary damages, fines, attorneys’ fees and the award of bounties to the relators who successfully prosecute or bring these suits to the government. Qui tam cases are sealed at the time of filing, which means knowledge of the information contained in the complaint typically is limited to the relator, the federal government, and the presiding court. The defendant in a qui tam action may remain unaware of the existence of a sealed complaint for years. While the complaint is under seal, the government reviews the merits of the case and may conduct a broad investigation and seek discovery from the defendant and other parties before deciding whether to intervene in the case and take the lead on litigating the claims. The court lifts the seal when the government makes its decision on whether to intervene. If the government decides not to intervene, the relator may elect to continue to pursue the lawsuit individually on behalf of the government.
In 2019, we settled with DOJ to conclude an investigation that originated in 2013 based on the allegations made by relators. The seven-year investigation produced no evidence of falsity or fraudulent conduct. Eventually, the court overseeing the qui tam actions refused to give DOJ more time to decide whether to intervene and unsealed the cases. DOJ chose not to intervene and prosecute the matter. We settled the DOJ investigation, together with the related qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuits, for a payment of $48 million, and we expressly denied any wrongdoing. Even when a matter is without merit, as we believe was the case with this investigation, we may still incur significant costs of defense or settlement costs or both.
It is possible that other qui tam lawsuits have been filed against us, which suits remain under seal, or that we are unaware of such filings or precluded by existing law or court order from discussing or disclosing the filing of such suits. We may be subject to liability under one or more undisclosed qui tam cases brought pursuant to the FCA.
The healthcare services we provide involve substantial risk of general and professional liability. Inpatient rehabilitative care involves three hours of daily intensive therapy for patients who are usually elderly and come to our hospitals with debilitating medical conditions, including COVID-19 and its associated conditions. Our clinicians must frequently assist patients who have difficulty with mobility. Home care services, by their very nature, are provided in an environment that is not in the substantial control of the healthcare provider. On any given day, we have thousands of care providers driving to and from the homes of patients. We cannot predict the impact any claims arising out of the travel, the home visits or the care being provided (regardless of their ultimate outcomes) could have on our business or reputation or on our ability to attract and retain patients and employees. We also cannot predict the adequacy of any reserves for such losses or recoveries from any insurance or re-insurance policies.
We self-insure a substantial portion of our professional, general, and workers’ compensation liability risks, which may not include risks related to regulatory fines and penalties, through our captive insurance subsidiary, as discussed further in Note 11, Self-Insured Risks, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Changes in the number of these liability claims and the cost to resolve them impact the reserves for these risks. A variance between our estimated and actual number of claims or average cost per claim could have a material impact, either favorable or unfavorable, on the adequacy of the reserves for these liability risks, which could have an effect on our financial position and results of operations.
Additionally, we operate in states in which the litigation environment may pose a significant business risk to us. For instance, we have been involved in lawsuits, including putative class actions, brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”). Under PAGA, individuals, including aggrieved employees, can bring individual or class-action claims alleging regulatory violations, including alleged violations of employment regulations. Additionally, judges and juries in California have demonstrated a willingness to grant large verdicts to plaintiffs in connection with employment and labor related cases. In 2017, the California Supreme Court held that plaintiffs bringing suit under PAGA are generally entitled to request and
receive a significant amount of information from the employer early in the litigation, which creates pressure for employers to settle early to avoid substantial litigation costs and which has resulted in a significant increase PAGA claims in recent years.
We may incur additional indebtedness in the future, and that debt or the associated increased leverage may have negative consequences for our business. The restrictive covenants included in the terms of our indebtedness could affect our ability to execute aspects of our business plan successfully.
As of December 31, 2020, we have approximately $2.9 billion of long-term debt outstanding (including that portion of long-term debt classified as current and excluding $391.7 million in finance leases). See Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Subject to specified limitations, our credit agreement and the indentures governing our debt securities permit us and our subsidiaries to incur material additional debt. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the risks described here could intensify.
Our indebtedness could have important consequences, including:
•limiting our ability to borrow additional amounts to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our business strategy and other general corporate purposes;
•making us more vulnerable to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions, in government regulation and in our business by limiting our flexibility in planning for, and making it more difficult for us to react quickly to, changing conditions;
•placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared with competing providers that have less debt; and
•exposing us to risks inherent in interest rate fluctuations for outstanding amounts under our credit facility, which could result in higher interest expense in the event of increases in interest rates, as discussed in Item 7A, Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
We are subject to contingent liabilities, prevailing economic conditions, and financial, business, and other factors beyond our control. Although we expect to make scheduled interest payments and principal reductions, we cannot provide assurance that changes in our business or other factors will not occur that may have the effect of preventing us from satisfying obligations under our credit agreement or debt instruments. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt and meet our other needs or have an unanticipated cash payment obligation, we may have to refinance all or a portion of our debt, obtain additional financing or reduce expenditures or sell assets we deem necessary to our business. We cannot provide assurance these measures would be possible or any additional financing could be obtained.
In addition, the terms of our credit agreement and the indentures governing our senior notes do, and our future debt instruments may, impose restrictions on us and our subsidiaries, including restrictions on our ability to, among other things, engage in one or more alternative separation transactions involving our home health and hospice segment (as discussed further above) or other transactions, pay dividends on or repurchase our capital stock, engage in transactions with affiliates, or incur or guarantee indebtedness. These covenants could also adversely affect our ability to finance our future operations or capital needs and pursue available business opportunities. For additional discussion of our material debt covenants, see the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section of Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
In addition, our credit agreement requires us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy certain financial condition tests. See the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section of Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Although we remained in compliance with the financial ratios and financial condition tests as of December 31, 2020, we cannot provide assurance we will continue to do so. Events beyond our control, including changes in general economic and business conditions, may affect our ability to meet those financial ratios and financial condition tests. A severe downturn in earnings, failure to realize anticipated earnings from acquisitions, or, if we have outstanding borrowings under our credit facility at the time, a rapid increase in interest rates could impair our ability to comply with those financial ratios and financial condition tests and we may need to obtain waivers from the required proportion of the lenders to avoid being in default. If we try to obtain a waiver or other relief from the required lenders, we may not be able to obtain it or such relief might have a material cost to us or be on terms less favorable than those in our existing debt. If a default occurs, the lenders could exercise their rights, including declaring all the funds borrowed (together with accrued and unpaid interest) to be immediately due and payable, terminating their commitments or instituting foreclosure proceedings against our assets, which, in turn, could cause the default and acceleration of the maturity of our other indebtedness. A breach of any other restrictive covenants
contained in our credit agreement or the indentures governing our senior notes would also (after giving effect to applicable grace periods, if any) result in an event of default with the same outcome.
As of December 31, 2020, approximately 72% of our consolidated Property and equipment, net was held by our company and its guarantor subsidiaries under its credit agreement. See Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section of Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Item 2, Properties.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2.Properties
We currently maintain our principal executive office at 9001 Liberty Parkway, Birmingham, Alabama, the lease for which expires in 2033 and has multiple renewal options for additional five-year terms.
In addition to our principal executive office and our home health and hospice corporate office, as of December 31, 2020, we leased or owned through various consolidated entities 137 hospitals and 323 agency offices. All but two of our hospital leases, which represent the largest portion of our rent expense, have at least five years remaining on their terms after taking into consideration one or more renewal options. Our consolidated entities associated with our leased hospitals are generally responsible for property taxes, property and casualty insurance, and routine maintenance expenses. Our home health and hospice business is based in Dallas, Texas where it leases office space for corporate and administrative functions. The remaining home health and hospice locations are in the localities served by that business and are subject to relatively small space leases, primarily 5,000 square feet or less. Those space leases are typically five years or less in term. We do not believe any one of our individual properties is material to our consolidated operations.
The following table sets forth information regarding our hospitals and our home health and hospice locations as of December 31, 2020:
Number of Hospitals
State Licensed Beds Building and Land Owned Building Owned and Land Leased Building and Land Leased Total Home Health and Hospice Locations
Alabama *+ 427 2 3 2 7 57
Arizona 396 1 2 3 6 5
Arkansas + 368 3 1 1 5 5
California 234 3 - 1 4 -
Colorado 124 1 - 1 2 6
Connecticut * - - - - - 1
Delaware * 40 - 1 - 1 -
Florida * 983 10 - 2 12 19
Georgia *+ 170 2 (1)
1 3 25
Idaho 40 - 1 - 1 12
Illinois * 65 - 1 - 1 3
Indiana 98 1 - - 1 1
Iowa 40 1 - - 1 -
Kansas 242 1 - 2 3 6
Kentucky *+ 323 2 1 - 3 3
Louisiana 47 1 - - 1 3
Maine * 100 - - 1 1 -
Maryland *+ 64 1 - - 1 3
Massachusetts * 529 2 - 2 4 5
Mississippi *+ 43 - - 1 1 20
Missouri * 191 - 2 - 2 2
Nevada * 219 2 - 1 3 4
New Hampshire 50 - 1 - 1 -
New Jersey *+ 199 1 1 1 3 -
New Mexico 87 1 - - 1 7
North Carolina *+ 68 1 - - 1 6
Ohio 260 2 1 1 4 1
Oklahoma 60 - 1 - 1 21
Oregon * - - - - - 2
Pennsylvania 745 5 - 4 9 4
Puerto Rico *+ 72 - - 2 2 -
Rhode Island *+ - - - - - 1
South Carolina *+ 456 2 4 1 7 4
South Dakota 40 1 - - 1 -
Tennessee *+ 493 5 4 - 9 8
Texas 1,593 12 3 9 24 63
Utah 84 1 - - 1 12
Virginia * 297 2 1 3 6 12
West Virginia *+ 258 1 3 - 4 -
Wyoming - - - - - 2
9,505 67 32 38 137 323 (2)
* Hospital certificate of need state or U.S. territory. In Florida, existing IRFs became eligible to expand without first obtaining a CON effective July 1, 2019, and new IRFs may operate without first obtaining a CON effective July 1, 2021.
+ Home health or hospice certificate of need state or U.S. territory.
(1) The inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Augusta and Newnan, Georgia are parties to industrial development bond financings that reduce the ad valorem taxes payable by each hospital. In connection with each of these bond structures, title to the related property is held by the local development authority. We lease the related hospital property and hold the bonds issued by that authority, the payment on which equals the amount payable under the lease. We may terminate each bond financing and the associated lease at any time at our option without penalty, and fee title to the related hospital property will return to us.
(2) This total includes 241 locations where we provide home health services and 82 locations where we provide hospice services.
Our principal executive office, hospitals, and other properties are suitable for their respective uses and are, in all material respects, adequate for our present needs. Information regarding the utilization of our licensed beds and other operating statistics can be found in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3.Legal Proceedings
We provide services in the highly regulated healthcare industry. In the ordinary course of our business, we are a party to various legal actions, proceedings, and claims as well as regulatory and other governmental audits and investigations. These matters could potentially subject us to sanctions, damages, recoupments, fines, and other penalties. Some of these matters have been material to us in the past, and others in the future may, either individually or in the aggregate, be material and adverse to our business, financial position, results of operations, and liquidity. We do not believe any of our pending legal proceedings are material to us, but there can be no assurance our assessment will not change based on future developments.
Additionally, the False Claims Act (the “FCA”) allows private citizens, called “relators,” to institute civil proceedings on behalf of the United States alleging violations of the FCA. These lawsuits, also known as “qui tam” actions, are common in the healthcare industry and can involve significant monetary damages, fines, attorneys’ fees and the award of bounties to the relators who successfully prosecute or bring these suits to the government. It is possible that qui tam lawsuits have been filed against us, which suits remain under seal, or that we are unaware of such filings or precluded by existing law or court order from discussing or disclosing the filing of such suits. Therefore, from time to time, we may be party to one or more undisclosed qui tam cases brought pursuant to the FCA.
Information relating to certain legal proceedings in which we are involved is included in Note 18, Contingencies and Other Commitments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Shares of our common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “EHC.”
Holders
As of February 12, 2021, there were 99,265,706 shares of Encompass Health common stock issued and outstanding, net of treasury shares, held by approximately 7,214 holders of record (participant positions at The Depository Trust Corporation plus record holders).
Dividends
On February 24, 2021, our board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.28 per share, payable on April 15, 2021 to stockholders of record on April 1, 2021. We expect quarterly dividends to continue to be paid in January, April, July, and October. However, the actual declaration of any future cash dividends, and the setting of record and payment dates as well as the per share amounts, will be at the discretion of our board each quarter after consideration of various factors, including our capital position and alternative uses of funds.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2020, information concerning compensation plans under which our securities are authorized for issuance. The table does not reflect grants, awards, exercises, terminations, or expirations since that date. All share amounts and exercise prices have been adjusted to reflect stock splits that occurred after the date on which any particular underlying plan was adopted, to the extent applicable.
Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options(1)
Number of securities available for future issuance
Plans approved by stockholders 2,532,030 (2)
$ 50.65 8,445,724 (3)
Plans not approved by stockholders 86,830 (4)
-
Total
2,618,860 $ 50.65 8,445,724
(1) This calculation does not take into account awards of restricted stock, restricted stock units, or performance share units.
(2) This amount assumes maximum performance by performance-based awards for which the performance has not yet been determined.
(3) This amount represents the number of shares available for future equity grants under the 2016 Omnibus Performance Incentive Plan approved by our stockholders in May 2016.
(4) This amount represents 86,830 restricted stock units issued under the 2004 Amended and Restated Director Incentive Plan, the material terms of which are described below.
2004 Amended and Restated Director Incentive Plan
The 2004 Amended and Restated Director Incentive Plan (the “2004 Plan”) provided for the grant of common stock, awards of restricted common stock, and the right to receive awards of common stock, which we refer to as “restricted stock units,” to our non-employee directors. The 2004 Plan expired in March 2008 and was replaced by the 2008 Equity Incentive Plan. Some awards remain outstanding. Awards granted under the 2004 Plan at the time of its termination will continue in effect in accordance with their terms. Awards of restricted stock units were fully vested when awarded and will be settled in shares of common stock on the earlier of the six-month anniversary of the date on which the director ceases to serve on the
board of directors or certain change in control events. The restricted stock units generally cannot be transferred. Awards are generally protected against dilution upon the issuance of stock dividends and in the event of a stock split, recapitalization, or other major corporate restructuring.
Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table summarizes our repurchases of equity securities during the three months ended December 31, 2020:
Period Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased(1)
Average Price Paid per Share (or Unit) ($) Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs(2)
October 1 through October 31, 2020 1,102 $ 67.50 - $199,253,887
November 1 through November 30, 2020 18,461 65.00 18,461 198,053,924
December 1 through December 31, 2020 - - - 198,053,924
Total 19,563 $ 65.14 18,461
(1)Except as noted in the following sentence, the number of shares reported in this column represents shares tendered by an employee as payment of the tax liabilities incident to the vesting of previously awarded shares of restricted stock. In October, 729 shares were purchased pursuant to our Directors’ Deferred Stock Investment Plan. This plan is a nonqualified deferral plan allowing non-employee directors to make advance elections to defer a fixed percentage of their director fees. The plan administrator acquires the shares in the open market which are then held in a rabbi trust. The plan also provides that dividends paid on the shares held for the accounts of the directors will be reinvested in shares of our common stock which will also be held in the trust. The directors’ rights to all shares in the trust are nonforfeitable, but the shares are only released to the directors after departure from our board.
(2)On October 28, 2013, we announced our board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of our common stock. On February 14, 2014, our board approved an increase in this common stock repurchase authorization from $200 million to $250 million. On July 24, 2018, our board approved resetting the aggregate common stock repurchase authorization to $250 million. The repurchase authorization does not require the repurchase of a specific number of shares, has an indefinite term, and is subject to termination at any time by our board of directors. Subject to certain terms and conditions, including a maximum price per share and compliance with federal and state securities and other laws, the repurchases may be made from time to time in open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, or other transactions, including trades under a plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Company Stock Performance
Set forth below is a line graph comparing the total returns of our common stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (“S&P 500”), and the S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index (“SPSIHP”), an equal-weighted index of at least 35 companies in healthcare services that are also part of the S&P Total Market Index and subject to float-adjusted market capitalization and liquidity requirements. Our compensation committee has in prior years used the SPSIHP as a benchmark for a portion of the awards under our long-term incentive program. The graph assumes $100 invested on December 31, 2015 in our common stock and each of the indices. The returns below assume reinvestment of dividends paid on the related common stock. We have paid a quarterly cash dividend on our common stock since October 2013.
The information contained in the performance graph shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.
The comparisons in the graph below are based upon historical data and are not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock. Research Data Group, Inc. provided the data for the indices presented below. We assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the indices’ data, but we are not aware of any reason to doubt its accuracy.
COMPARISON OF 5-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
Among Encompass Health Corporation, the S&P 500 Index, and the S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index
For the Year Ended December 31,
Base Period Cumulative Total Return
Company/Index Name 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Encompass Health Corporation 100.00 121.32 148.43 188.32 215.12 261.08
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index 100.00 111.96 136.40 130.42 171.49 203.04
S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index 100.00 89.38 95.15 96.33 112.16 114.97

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6.Selected Financial Data
We derived the selected consolidated financial data presented below as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 and for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this filing. We derived the selected historical consolidated financial data presented below as of December 31, 2018 and as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 from our consolidated financial statements and related notes not included herein. Refer to Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and the notes to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the financial data presented below, including matters that might cause this data not to be indicative of our future financial position or results of operations.
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
(In Millions, Except per Share Data)
Statements of Comprehensive Income Data:
Net operating revenues $ 4,644.4 $ 4,605.0 $ 4,277.3 $ 3,913.9 $ 3,642.6
Operating earnings (1)
563.9 612.1 555.2 578.3 588.1
Provision for income tax expense
103.8 115.9 118.9 145.8 163.9
Income from continuing operations 368.8 446.4 374.3 350.6 318.1
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax
- (0.6) 1.1 (0.4) -
Net income 368.8 445.8 375.4 350.2 318.1
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
(84.6) (87.1) (83.1) (79.1) (70.5)
Net income attributable to Encompass Health common shareholders
$ 284.2 $ 358.7 $ 292.3 $ 271.1 $ 247.6
Weighted average common shares outstanding: (2)
Basic 98.6 98.0 97.9 93.7 89.1
Diluted 99.8 99.4 99.8 99.3 99.5
Earnings per common share:
Basic earnings per share attributable to Encompass Health common shareholders:
Continuing operations
$ 2.87 $ 3.66 $ 2.97 $ 2.88 $ 2.77
Discontinued operations
- (0.01) 0.01 - -
Net income
$ 2.87 $ 3.65 $ 2.98 $ 2.88 $ 2.77
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Encompass Health common shareholders:
Continuing operations
$ 2.85 $ 3.62 $ 2.92 $ 2.84 $ 2.59
Discontinued operations
- (0.01) 0.01 - -
Net income
$ 2.85 $ 3.61 $ 2.93 $ 2.84 $ 2.59
Cash dividends per common share $ 1.12 $ 1.10 $ 1.04 $ 0.98 $ 0.94
As of December 31,
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
(In Millions)
Balance Sheet Data:
Total assets (3)
$ 6,445.9 $ 6,080.7 $ 5,175.0 $ 4,864.5 $ 4,663.8
Long-term debt, including current portion (2) (3)
3,288.9 3,062.6 2,514.4 2,577.7 3,016.4
Encompass Health shareholders’ equity (2)
1,588.0 1,352.2 1,276.7 1,152.5 717.8
(1) We define operating earnings as income from continuing operations attributable to Encompass Health before (1) loss on early extinguishment of debt; (2) interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees; (3) other income; (4) loss on interest rate swaps; and (5) income tax expense or benefit.
(2) During the fourth quarter of 2013, we exchanged $320 million in aggregate principal amount of newly issued 2.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2043 (“Convertible Notes”) for 257,110 shares of our then outstanding 6.50% Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock. On April 23, 2015, we exercised our rights to force conversion of all remaining outstanding shares of our convertible perpetual preferred stock into common stock. During the second quarter of 2017, we exercised the early redemption option and subsequently retired all $320 million of the Convertible Notes reducing our long-term debt balance by approximately $278 million. Substantially all of the holders elected to convert their Convertible Notes to shares of our common stock, which resulted in the issuance of 8.9 million shares from treasury stock.
(3) In May 2018, we acquired Camellia Healthcare and affiliated entities using cash on hand and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. In July 2019, we acquired privately owned Alacare Home Health & Hospice using cash on hand and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. See Note 2, Business Combinations, and Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes. This MD&A is designed to provide the reader with information that will assist in understanding our consolidated financial statements, the changes in certain key items in those financial statements from year to year, and the primary factors that accounted for those changes, as well as how certain accounting principles affect our consolidated financial statements. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Summary of Risk Factors” on page ii of this report for a description of important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected results. See also Item 1A, Risk Factors.
In addition, management’s discussion and analysis of our results of operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 may be found in, Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2020.
Executive Overview
Our Business
We are a leading provider of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based patient care through our network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies. As of December 31, 2020, our national footprint spans 39 states and Puerto Rico. As discussed in this Item, “Segment Results of Operations,” we manage our operations in two operating segments which are also our reportable segments: (1) inpatient rehabilitation and (2) home health and hospice. For additional information about our business and reportable segments, see Item 1, Business and Item 1A, Risk Factors, of this report, Note 19, Segment Reporting, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, and the “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item.
On December 9, 2020, we announced a formal process to explore strategic alternatives for our home health and hospice business. A range of options are under consideration, including the full or partial separation of the home health and hospice business from Encompass Health through an initial public offering, spin-off, merger, sale or other transaction. No timetable has been established for the completion of the strategic review.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
We are the nation’s largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in terms of patients treated, revenues, and number of hospitals. We provide specialized rehabilitative treatment on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. We operate hospitals in 35 states and Puerto Rico, with concentrations in the eastern half of the United States and Texas. As of December 31, 2020, we operate 137 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and manage four inpatient rehabilitation units through management contracts. Our inpatient rehabilitation segment represented approximately 77% of our Net operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Home Health and Hospice
Our home health business is the nation’s fourth largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services in terms of revenues. Our home health services include a comprehensive range of Medicare-certified home nursing services to adult patients in need of care. Our hospice business is the nation’s eighth largest provider of Medicare-certified hospice services in terms of revenues. We provide hospice services to terminally ill patients and their families that address patients’ physical needs, including pain control and symptom management, and to provide emotional and spiritual support. As of December 31, 2020, we provide home health services in 241 locations and hospice services in 82 locations across 31 states, with a concentration in the southern half of the United States. In addition, one of these home health agencies operates as a joint venture that we account for using the equity method of accounting. Our home health and hospice segment represented approximately 23% of our Net operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020.
2020 Overview
The rapid onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic (the “pandemic”) in the United States has resulted in significant changes to our operating environment. For discussion of the financial and operational impacts we have experienced as a result of the pandemic, see Item 1, Business, Item 1A, Risk Factors, and the “Results of Operations” and “Segment Results of Operations” sections of this Item.
We continued our development and expansion efforts during 2020. In our inpatient rehabilitation segment, we:
•began operating our new 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Murrieta, California in February 2020;
•began operating a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Coralville, Iowa with our joint venture partner, University of Iowa Health Care, in June 2020;
•began operating our new 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in June 2020;
•began operating our new 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Toledo, Ohio in November 2020;
•continued our capacity expansions by adding 117 new beds to existing hospitals; and
•announced or continued development of the following hospitals:
Number of New Beds
2021(1)
2022(1)
De novos:
Cumming, Georgia 50 -
North Tampa, Florida 50 -
Stockbridge, Georgia 50 -
Greenville, South Carolina 40 -
Pensacola, Florida 40 -
Shreveport, Louisiana 40 -
Waco, Texas 40 -
Libertyville, Illinois - 60
St. Augustine, Florida - 40
Lakeland, Florida - 50
Clermont, Florida - 50
Naples, Florida - 50
Cape Coral, Florida - 40
Jacksonville, Florida - 50
Joint ventures:
San Angelo, Texas 40 -
Knoxville, Tennessee - 73
Shiloh, Illinois - 40
Moline, Illinois - 40
Owasso, Oklahoma - 40
(1) Certain development projects may be delayed due to the pandemic.
In our home health and hospice segment, we acquired one home health location in Lynchburg, Virginia and began accepting patients at our home health location in Sebring, Florida and our new hospice location in Allen, Texas.
During 2020, Net operating revenues increased 0.9% over 2019 due primarily to pricing growth in our inpatient rehabilitation segment partially offset by decreased volumes in both segments and a pricing decrease in the home health and hospice segment. See the “Results of Operations” and “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item for additional financial information.
We also continued taking steps to further increase the strength and flexibility of our balance sheet as well as augment returns from investments in operations with shareholder distributions via common stock dividends and repurchases of our common stock. For additional information, see the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section of this Item.
Business Outlook
Notwithstanding the current impacts from the pandemic, we remain optimistic regarding the intermediate and long-term prospects for both of our business segments. Demographic trends, such as population aging, should continue to increase long-term demand for the services we provide. While we treat patients of all ages, most of our patients are 65 and older, and the number of Medicare enrollees is expected to grow approximately 3% per year for the foreseeable future. Even more specifically, the average age of our patients is approximately 76, and the population group ranging in ages from 75 to 79 is expected to grow at approximately 5% per year through 2026. We believe the demand for the services we provide will continue to increase as the U.S. population ages. We believe these factors align with our strengths in, and focus on, post-acute services. In addition, we believe we can address the demand for facility-based and home-based post-acute care services in markets where we currently do not have a presence by constructing or acquiring new hospitals and by acquiring or opening home health and hospice agencies in those fragmented industries.
We are a leading provider of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based patient care through our network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies. We are committed to delivering high-quality, cost-effective, integrated patient care. As the nation’s largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in terms of patients treated, revenues, and number of hospitals, we believe we differentiate ourselves from our competitors based on the quality of our clinical outcomes, our cost-effectiveness, our financial strength, and our extensive application of technology. As the fourth largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services in terms of revenues, we believe we differentiate ourselves from our competitors by the application of a highly integrated technology platform, our ability to manage a variety of care pathways, and a proven track record of consummating and integrating acquisitions.
Although the healthcare industry is currently engaged in addressing the healthcare crisis caused by the pandemic, the industry also faces the prospect of ongoing efforts to transform the healthcare system to coordinated care delivery and payment models. The nature, timing and extent of that transformation remains uncertain, as the development and implementation of new care delivery and payment systems will require significant time and resources. Our short-term goal is to serve our communities and provide the best care possible during the pandemic. Our long-term goal is to position the Company in a prudent manner to be responsive to industry shifts. We have invested in our core business and created an infrastructure that enables us to provide high-quality care on a cost-effective basis. We have been disciplined in creating a capital structure that is flexible with no significant debt maturities prior to 2023. We continue to have a strong, well-capitalized balance sheet, including a substantial portfolio of owned real estate and significant availability under our revolving credit facility. For these and other reasons, we believe we will be able to adapt to changes in reimbursement, sustain our business model, and grow through acquisition and consolidation opportunities as they arise. See also Item 1, Business, “Competitive Strengths” and “Strategy and 2021 Strategic Priorities.”
Key Challenges
Healthcare is a highly-regulated industry facing many well-publicized regulatory and reimbursement challenges. The Medicare reimbursement systems for both inpatient rehabilitation and home health have recently undergone significant changes. The future of many aspects of healthcare regulation remains uncertain. Successful healthcare providers are those able to adapt to changes in the regulatory and operating environments, build strategic relationships across the healthcare continuum, and consistently provide high-quality, cost-effective care. We believe we have the necessary capabilities - change agility, strategic relationships, quality of patient outcomes, cost effectiveness, and ability to capitalize on growth opportunities - to adapt to and succeed in a dynamic, highly regulated industry, and we have a proven track record of doing so.
As we continue to execute our business plan, the following are some of the challenges we face.
•Operating in a Highly Regulated Industry. We are required to comply with extensive and complex laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local government levels. More specifically, because Medicare comprises a significant portion of our Net operating revenues, failure to comply with the laws and regulations governing the Medicare program and related matters, including anti-kickback and anti-fraud requirements, could materially and adversely affect us. These rules and regulations have affected, or could in the future affect, our business activities by having an impact on the reimbursement we receive for services provided or the costs of compliance, mandating new documentation standards, requiring additional licensure or certification, regulating our relationships with physicians and other referral sources, regulating the use of our properties, and limiting our ability to enter new markets or add new capacity to existing hospitals and agencies. Ensuring continuous compliance with extensive laws and regulations is an operating requirement for all healthcare providers. See Item 1, Business, “Regulation,” and Item 1A, Risk Factors, for detailed discussions of the most important regulations we face and our programs intended to ensure we comply with those regulations.
Reimbursement claims made by healthcare providers, including inpatient rehabilitation hospitals as well as home health and hospice agencies, are subject to audit from time to time by governmental payors and their agents, such as the Medicare Administrative Contractors (“MACs”), fiscal intermediaries and carriers, as well as the Office of Inspector General, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), and state Medicaid programs. These audits as well as the ordinary course claim reviews of our billings result in payment denials, including recoupment of previously paid claims from current accounts receivable. Healthcare providers can challenge any denials through an administrative appeals process that can be extremely lengthy, taking several years. For additional details of these claim reviews, See Item 1, Business, “Sources of Revenues,” Item 1A, Risk Factors, and Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Net Operating Revenues” and “Accounts Receivable,” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
See also Item 1, Business, “Regulation,” and Item 1A, Risk Factors, to this report.
•Changes to Our Operating Environment Resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the public health emergency associated with the pandemic, Congress and CMS adopted several statutory and regulatory measures intended to provide relief to healthcare providers in order to ensure patients would continue to have adequate access to care. On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”), which temporarily suspended sequestration for the period of May 1 through December 31, 2020. The impact of the suspension of sequestration on our inpatient rehabilitation and home health and hospice revenues in 2020 was $35.3 million and $14.0 million, respectively. The CARES Act also authorized the cash distribution of relief funds from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to healthcare providers. We did not request any relief funds. However, on April 10, 2020, HHS began distributing CARES Act relief funds to various of our bank accounts. We refused the CARES Act relief funds, and our banks returned all the funds to HHS. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “2021 Budget Act”), signed into law on December 27, 2020, extends the sequestration suspension through March 31, 2021 and provides for additional provider relief funds. We intend to refuse any additional provider relief funds distributed in the future whether authorized under the CARES Act or the 2021 Budget Act. The CARES Act, the 2021 Budget Act, and CMS regulatory actions include a number of other provisions affecting our reimbursement and operations in both segments. The provisions are discussed in Item 1, Business, “Sources of Revenue,” Item 1A, Risk Factors, and the “Results of Operations” section of this Item.
•Changes to Our Operating Environment Resulting from Healthcare Reform. Concerns held by federal policymakers about the federal deficit and national debt levels, as well as other healthcare policy priorities, could result in enactment of legislation affecting portions of the Medicare program, including post-acute care services we provide. It is not clear what, if any, Medicare-related changes may ultimately be enacted and signed into law or otherwise implemented, but it is possible that any reductions in Medicare spending will have a material impact on reimbursements for healthcare providers generally and post-acute providers specifically. We cannot predict what, if any, changes in Medicare spending or modifications to the healthcare laws and regulations will result from future budget or other legislative or regulatory initiatives.
Many provisions within the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws have impacted, or could in the future impact, our business. Most notable for us are Medicare reimbursement reductions, such as reductions to annual market basket updates to providers and reimbursement rate rebasing adjustments, and promotion of alternative payment models, such as accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) and bundled payment initiatives including the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative Advanced (“BPCI Advanced”) and the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (“CJR”) program. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”) plays a key role in the development of many of these new payment and service delivery models. Our challenges related to healthcare reform are discussed in Item 1, Business, “Sources of Revenues,” and Item 1A, Risk Factors.
As discussed in Item 1, Business, the future of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Laws as well as the nature and substance of any other healthcare legislation remain uncertain. Healthcare will almost certainly be the subject of significant regulatory and legislative changes under the Biden administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress. We will continue to evaluate these laws and regulations and position the Company for this industry shift. Based on our track record, we believe we can adapt to these regulatory and industry changes. Further, we have engaged, and will continue to engage, actively in discussions with key legislators and regulators to attempt to ensure any healthcare laws or regulations adopted or amended promote our goal of high-quality, cost-effective care.
Each year, CMS adopts rules that update pricing and otherwise amend the respective payment systems. On August 4, 2020, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for fiscal year 2021 under the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system (the “2021 IRF Rule”). Based on our analysis that utilizes, among other things, the acuity of our patients over the twelve-month period ended September 30, 2020, our experience with outlier payments over this same time frame, and other factors, we believe the 2021 IRF Rule will result in a net increase to our Medicare payment rates of approximately 2.3% effective October 1, 2020. On October 29, 2020, CMS released its notice of final rulemaking for calendar year 2021 for home health agencies under the home health prospective payment system (the “2021 HH Rule”). Based on our analysis of 30-day payment periods that both started and ended in 2020 and have been billed, we believe this rule will result in an increase to our Medicare home health payment rates of approximately 1.9% effective for 30-day payment periods ending on or after January 1, 2021. For additional details of the 2021 IRF Rule, 2021 HH Rule, and other proposed and adopted legislative and regulatory actions that may be material to our business, see Item 1, Business, and Item 1A, Risk Factors.
•Maintaining Strong Volume Growth. Various factors, including competition and increasing regulatory and administrative burdens, may impact our ability to maintain and grow our hospital, home health, and hospice volumes. In any particular market, we may encounter competition from local or national entities with longer operating histories or other competitive advantages, such as acute care hospitals who provide post-acute services similar to ours or other post-acute providers with relationships with referring acute care hospitals or physicians. Aggressive payment review practices by Medicare contractors, aggressive enforcement of regulatory policies by government agencies, and restrictive or burdensome rules, regulations or statutes governing admissions practices may lead us to not accept patients who would be appropriate for and would benefit from the services we provide. In addition, from time to time, we must get regulatory approval to expand our services and locations in states with certificate of need laws. This approval may be withheld or take longer than expected. In the case of new-store volume growth, the addition of hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies to our portfolio also may be difficult and take longer than expected.
In addition to the factors described above, beginning in March, we experienced significant volume decreases in both segments which we believe resulted from a number of conditions related to the pandemic as discussed in the “Results of Operations” section of this Item. While inpatient rehabilitation patient census and home health starts of episodes have substantially recovered, a current or future resurgence of COVID-19 infections could continue to cause disruptions to our volume growth.
•Recruiting and Retaining High-Quality Personnel. See Item 1A, Risk Factors, for a discussion of competition for staffing, shortages of qualified personnel, and other factors that may increase our labor costs. Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, including management, for our inpatient hospitals and home health and hospice agencies remain a high priority for us. We attempt to maintain a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that allows us to remain competitive in this challenging staffing environment while remaining consistent with our goal of being a high-quality, cost-effective provider of post-acute services. Additionally, our operations have been affected and may in the future be affected by staffing shortages where employees must self-quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 or where employees are unavailable due to a lack of childcare or care for elderly family.
We remain confident in the prospects of both of our business segments based on the increasing demands for the services we provide to an aging population. This confidence is further supported by our strong financial foundation and the substantial investments we have made in our businesses. We have a proven track record of working through difficult situations, and we believe in our ability to overcome current and future challenges.
Results of Operations
Payor Mix
During 2020, 2019, and 2018, we derived consolidated Net operating revenues from the following payor sources:
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Medicare 70.5 % 75.1 % 75.9 %
Medicare Advantage 14.2 % 10.6 % 9.2 %
Managed care 9.0 % 8.3 % 8.8 %
Medicaid 3.4 % 2.8 % 2.6 %
Other third-party payors 0.9 % 0.9 % 1.1 %
Workers' compensation 0.5 % 0.7 % 0.7 %
Patients 0.4 % 0.5 % 0.5 %
Other income 1.1 % 1.1 % 1.2 %
Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Our payor mix is weighted heavily towards Medicare. We receive Medicare reimbursements under the the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system, the home health prospective payment system, and the hospice payment system. For additional information regarding Medicare reimbursement, see the “Sources of Revenues” section of Item 1, Business.
As part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress created a program of private, managed healthcare coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. This program has been referred to as Medicare Part C, or “Medicare Advantage.” The program offers beneficiaries a range of Medicare coverage options by providing a choice between the traditional fee-for-service program (under Medicare Parts A and B) or enrollment in a health maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, point-of-service plan, provider sponsor organization, or an insurance plan operated in conjunction with a medical savings account.
Our consolidated Net operating revenues consist primarily of revenues derived from patient care services. Net operating revenues also include other revenues generated from management and administrative fees and other non-patient care services. These other revenues are included in “other income” in the above table.
Medicare as a percentage of revenue decreased during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to the pandemic, as discussed below. Within the inpatient rehabilitation segment, Medicare Advantage as a percentage of revenue increased during 2020 compared to 2019 due in part from suspension of prior authorization requirements. For additional discussion by segment, see the “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item.
Our Results
From 2018 through 2020, our consolidated results of operations were as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, Percentage Change
2020 2019 2018 2020 vs. 2019 2019 vs. 2018
(In Millions)
Net operating revenues $ 4,644.4 $ 4,605.0 $ 4,277.3 0.9 % 7.7 %
Operating expenses:
Salaries and benefits 2,682.0 2,573.0 2,354.0 4.2 % 9.3 %
Other operating expenses 634.4 623.6 585.1 1.7 % 6.6 %
Occupancy costs 81.2 82.3 78.0 (1.3) % 5.5 %
Supplies 200.5 167.9 158.7 19.4 % 5.8 %
General and administrative expenses 155.5 247.0 220.2 (37.0) % 12.2 %
Depreciation and amortization 243.0 218.7 199.7 11.1 % 9.5 %
Government, class action, and related settlements 2.8 - 52.0 N/A (100.0) %
Total operating expenses 3,999.4 3,912.5 3,647.7 2.2 % 7.3 %
Loss on early extinguishment of debt 2.3 7.7 - (70.1) % N/A
Interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees
184.2 159.7 147.3 15.3 % 8.4 %
Other income (10.6) (30.5) (2.2) (65.2) % 1,286.4 %
Equity in net income of nonconsolidated affiliates (3.5) (6.7) (8.7) (47.8) % (23.0) %
Income from continuing operations before income tax expense
472.6 562.3 493.2 (16.0) % 14.0 %
Provision for income tax expense 103.8 115.9 118.9 (10.4) % (2.5) %
Income from continuing operations 368.8 446.4 374.3 (17.4) % 19.3 %
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax - (0.6) 1.1 (100.0) % (154.5) %
Net income 368.8 445.8 375.4 (17.3) % 18.8 %
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (84.6) (87.1) (83.1) (2.9) % 4.8 %
Net income attributable to Encompass Health $ 284.2 $ 358.7 $ 292.3 (20.8) % 22.7 %
Operating Expenses as a % of Net Operating Revenues
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Operating expenses:
Salaries and benefits 57.7 % 55.9 % 55.0 %
Other operating expenses 13.7 % 13.5 % 13.7 %
Occupancy costs 1.7 % 1.8 % 1.8 %
Supplies 4.3 % 3.6 % 3.7 %
General and administrative expenses 3.3 % 5.4 % 5.1 %
Depreciation and amortization 5.2 % 4.7 % 4.7 %
Government, class action, and related settlements 0.1 % - % 1.2 %
Total operating expenses 86.1 % 85.0 % 85.3 %
In the discussion that follows, we use “same-store” comparisons to explain the changes in certain performance metrics and line items within our financial statements. We calculate same-store comparisons based on hospitals and home health and hospice locations open throughout both the full current period and prior periods presented. These comparisons include the financial results of market consolidation transactions in existing markets, as it is difficult to determine, with precision, the incremental impact of these transactions on our results of operations.
2020 Compared to 2019
Net Operating Revenues
Our consolidated Net operating revenues increased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily from pricing growth in our inpatient rehabilitation segment partially offset by decreased volumes in both segments and a pricing decrease in the home health and hospice segment. See additional discussion in the “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item.
During January and February 2020, both segments were exhibiting strong year-over-year volume growth. Beginning in mid-March, we experienced decreased volumes in both segments which resulted from a number of conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic including: lower acute-care hospital censuses due to the deferral of elective surgeries and shelter-in-place orders, restrictive visitation policies in place at acute-care hospitals that severely limit access to patients and caregivers by our clinical rehabilitation liaisons and care transition coordinators, lock down of assisted living facilities, and heightened anxiety among patients and their family members regarding the risk of exposure to COVID-19 during acute-care and post-acute care treatment.
Inpatient rehabilitation patient census and home health starts of episodes reached a low point the week ended April 12, 2020 (Easter weekend). While inpatient rehabilitation patient census and home health starts of episodes have substantially recovered, a current or future resurgence of COVID-19 infections could continue to cause disruptions to our volumes.
Salaries and Benefits
Salaries and benefits are the most significant cost to us and represent an investment in our most important asset: our employees. Salaries and benefits include all amounts paid to full- and part-time employees who directly participate in or support the operations of our hospitals and home health and hospice agencies, including all related costs of benefits provided to employees. It also includes amounts paid for contract labor.
In April 2020, we initiated a program for eligible frontline employees to earn additional paid time off in recognition of their outstanding efforts responding to the pandemic. With more than 21,000 employees potentially benefiting from this additional paid time off, we accrued approximately $43 million in salary and benefits expense in the second quarter of 2020 in connection with this award (approximately $29 million in the inpatient rehabilitation segment; approximately $14 million in the home health and hospice segment).
Salaries and benefits in terms of dollars and as a percent of Net operating revenues increased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to salary increases for our employees, the award of additional PTO to employees in response to the pandemic as discussed above, the ramp up of new stores, and declining employee productivity during the second quarter of 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic. See additional discussion in the “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item.
Other Operating Expenses
Other operating expenses include costs associated with managing and maintaining our hospitals and home health and hospice agencies. These expenses include such items as contract services, non-income related taxes, professional fees, utilities, insurance, and repairs and maintenance.
As a percent of Net operating revenues, Other operating expenses increased during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to the pandemic related impact on patient volumes and increased lab costs, offset by lower travel and entertainment costs.
Supplies
Supplies expense includes all costs associated with supplies used while providing patient care. Specifically, these costs include personal protective equipment (“PPE”), pharmaceuticals, food, needles, bandages, and other similar items.
Supplies increased in terms of dollars and as a percent of Net operating revenues during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to increased utilization and cost of medical supplies, including PPE, due to the pandemic. We expect to continue to see increased utilization and cost of medical supplies in 2021 as a result of the pandemic.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses primarily include administrative expenses such as information technology services, human resources, corporate accounting, legal services, and internal audit and controls that are managed from our home office in Birmingham, Alabama. These expenses also include stock-based compensation expenses.
General and administrative expenses decreased in terms of dollars and as a percent of Net operating revenues during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to decreased expenses associated with stock appreciation rights. For additional information on stock appreciation rights, see Note 14, Share-Based Payments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization increased during 2020 compared to 2019 due to our capital expenditures and development activities throughout 2019 and 2020. We expect Depreciation and amortization to increase going forward as a result of our recent and ongoing capital investments.
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discounts and Fees
The increase in Interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from the issuances of our 2028 Notes and 2030 Notes in September 2019 and May 2020 partially offset by the November 2020 redemption of our 5.75% Senior Notes due 2024 (the “2024 Notes”). Cash paid for interest approximated $168 million and $156 million in 2020 and 2019, respectively. For additional information, see Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Other Income
Other income for 2019 included a $19.2 million gain as a result of our consolidation of Yuma Rehabilitation Hospital and the remeasurement of our previously held equity interest at fair value. See Note 9, Investments in and Advances to Nonconsolidated Affiliates, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Income from Continuing Operations Before Income Tax Expense
Our pre-tax income from continuing operations in 2020 decreased compared to 2019 primarily due to the decrease in earnings, as discussed in the “Segment Results of Operations” section of this Item.
Provision for Income Tax Expense
Our Provision for income tax expense declined in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to lower Income from continuing operations before income tax expense. See also Note 16, Income Taxes, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
In addition to the CARES Act provisions previously discussed in the “Executive Overview” section of this Item, the CARES Act also includes provisions relating to net operating loss carryback periods, alternative minimum tax credit refunds,
modifications to the net interest deduction limitations, technical corrections to tax depreciation methods for qualified improvement property and deferral of employer payroll taxes. The CARES Act did not materially impact our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2020, although it will impact the timing of future cash payments for taxes.
Our cash payments for income taxes approximated $33 million and $104 million, net of refunds, in 2020 and 2019, respectively. These payments were based on estimates of taxable income for 2020. We estimate we will pay approximately $80 million to $110 million of cash income taxes, net of refunds, in 2021. These payments are expected to primarily result from federal and state income tax expenses based on estimates of taxable income for 2021. In 2020 and 2019, current income tax expense was $51.4 million and $75.9 million, respectively.
In certain jurisdictions, we do not expect to generate sufficient income to use all of the available state net operating losses and other credits prior to their expiration. This determination is based on our evaluation of all available evidence in these jurisdictions including results of operations during the preceding three years, our forecast of future earnings, and prudent tax planning strategies. It is possible we may be required to increase or decrease our valuation allowance at some future time if our forecast of future earnings varies from actual results on a consolidated basis or in the applicable tax jurisdiction, if the timing of future tax deductions differs from our expectations, or pursuant to changes in state tax laws and rates.
See Note 16, Income Taxes, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and the “Critical Accounting Estimates” section of this Item.
Impact of Inflation
The impact of inflation on the Company will be primarily in the area of labor costs. The healthcare industry is labor intensive. Wages and other expenses increase during periods of inflation and when labor shortages occur in the marketplace. There can be no guarantee we will not experience increases in the cost of labor, as the need for clinical healthcare professionals is expected to grow. In addition, increases in healthcare costs are typically higher than inflation and impact our costs under our employee benefit plans. Managing these costs remains a significant challenge and priority for us.
Suppliers pass along rising costs to us in the form of higher prices. In addition, we have experienced higher prices for our medical supplies, including PPE, as a result of the pandemic. Our supply chain efforts and our continual focus on monitoring and actively managing medical supplies and pharmaceutical costs has enabled us to accommodate increased pricing related to supplies and other operating expenses over the past few years. However, we cannot predict our ability to cover future cost increases including increase in the cost of PPE.
It should be noted that we have little or no ability to pass on these increased costs associated with providing services to Medicare and Medicaid patients due to federal and state laws that establish fixed reimbursement rates.
Relationships and Transactions with Related Parties
Related party transactions were not material to our operations in 2020, 2019, or 2018, and therefore, are not presented as a separate discussion within this Item.
Segment Results of Operations
Our internal financial reporting and management structure is focused on the major types of services provided by Encompass Health. We manage our operations using two operating segments which are also our reportable segments: (1) inpatient rehabilitation and (2) home health and hospice. For additional information regarding our business segments, including a detailed description of the services we provide, financial data for each segment, and a reconciliation of total segment Adjusted EBITDA to income from continuing operations before income tax expense, see Note 19, Segment Reporting, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our inpatient rehabilitation segment derived its Net operating revenues from the following payor sources:
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Medicare 66.7 % 72.2 % 73.2 %
Medicare Advantage
15.3 % 10.7 % 9.2 %
Managed care 10.4 % 9.8 % 10.3 %
Medicaid 3.9 % 3.1 % 3.0 %
Other third-party payors 1.2 % 1.2 % 1.5 %
Workers’ compensation 0.6 % 0.8 % 0.8 %
Patients 0.5 % 0.7 % 0.6 %
Other income 1.4 % 1.5 % 1.4 %
Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Medicare as a percentage of revenue decreased during 2020 compared to 2019 due to the pandemic. Medicare Advantage as a percentage of revenue increased during 2020 compared to 2019 due in part from suspension of prior authorization requirements.
Additional information regarding our inpatient rehabilitation segment’s operating results for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, is as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, Percentage Change
2020 2019 2018 2020 vs. 2019 2019 vs. 2018
(In Millions, Except Percentage Change)
Net operating revenues:
Inpatient
$ 3,496.1 $ 3,423.5 $ 3,247.9 2.1 % 5.4 %
Outpatient and other
70.1 89.5 98.3 (21.7) % (9.0) %
Inpatient rehabilitation segment revenues
3,566.2 3,513.0 3,346.2 1.5 % 5.0 %
Operating expenses:
Salaries and benefits
1,903.8 1,813.1 1,701.5 5.0 % 6.6 %
Other operating expenses
534.7 521.9 502.3 2.5 % 3.9 %
Supplies
171.0 147.0 140.6 16.3 % 4.6 %
Occupancy costs
61.4 64.8 63.8 (5.2) % 1.6 %
Other income (8.0) (10.5) (3.6) (23.8) % 191.7 %
Equity in net income of nonconsolidated affiliates
(3.0) (5.5) (7.5) (45.5) % (26.7) %
Noncontrolling interests 83.3 82.6 77.2 0.8 % 7.0 %
Segment Adjusted EBITDA
$ 823.0 $ 899.6 $ 871.9 (8.5) % 3.2 %
(Actual Amounts)
Discharges 181,897 186,842 179,846 (2.6) % 3.9 %
Net patient revenue per discharge
$ 19,220 $ 18,323 $ 18,059 4.9 % 1.5 %
Outpatient visits 186,257 375,525 488,754 (50.4) % (23.2) %
Average length of stay (days) 12.9 12.6 12.6 2.4 % - %
Occupancy % 67.7% 69.5% 69.3% (2.6) % 0.3 %
# of licensed beds 9,505 9,249 8,966 2.8 % 3.2 %
Full-time equivalents* 22,076 21,967 21,335 0.5 % 3.0 %
Employees per occupied bed 3.43 3.42 3.43 0.3 % (0.3) %
* Full-time equivalents included in the above table represent our employees who participate in or support the operations of our hospitals and include an estimate of full-time equivalents related to contract labor.
We actively manage the productive portion of our Salaries and benefits utilizing certain metrics, including employees per occupied bed, or “EPOB.” This metric is determined by dividing the number of full-time equivalents, including an estimate of full-time equivalents from the utilization of contract labor, by the number of occupied beds during each period. The number of occupied beds is determined by multiplying the number of licensed beds by our occupancy percentage.
Operating Expenses as a % of Net Operating Revenues
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Operating expenses:
Salaries and benefits 53.4 % 51.6 % 50.8 %
Other operating expenses 15.0 % 14.9 % 15.0 %
Supplies 4.8 % 4.2 % 4.2 %
Occupancy costs 1.7 % 1.8 % 1.9 %
2020 Compared to 2019
Net Operating Revenues
Inpatient revenue increased during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to favorable pricing partially offset by decreased volumes. Discharge growth from new stores of 1.8% during 2020 resulted from our joint ventures in Lubbock, Texas (May 2019), Boise, Idaho (July 2019) and Coralville, Iowa (June 2020) and wholly owned hospitals in Katy, Texas (September 2019), Murrieta, California (February 2020) and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (June 2020). Discharge growth from new stores during 2020 also resulted from our joint venture hospital in Yuma, Arizona changing from the equity method of accounting to a consolidated entity effective July 1, 2019. Same-store discharges declined 4.4% during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to the pandemic. Growth in net patient revenue per discharge during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from an increase in reimbursement rates, a higher acuity patient mix and the suspension of sequestration starting in May 2020. The decrease in outpatient and other revenue during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from the COVID-related suspension of hospital-based outpatient services in 2020 and the closure of certain hospital-based outpatient programs in 2019.
See Note 2, Business Combinations, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for information regarding our joint ventures discussed above. See Note 9, Investments in and Advances to Nonconsolidated Affiliates, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for information regarding the consolidation of our Yuma Rehabilitation Hospital.
Adjusted EBITDA
The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from COVID-related impacts on patient volumes and medical supplies as well as the award of additional paid time off to employees in response to the pandemic, as discussed above, plus the ramp up of new stores.
Home Health and Hospice
During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our home health and hospice segment derived its Net operating revenues from the following payor sources:
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Medicare 83.1 % 84.2 % 85.3 %
Medicare Advantage
10.8 % 10.2 % 9.5 %
Managed care 4.4 % 3.6 % 3.6 %
Medicaid 1.4 % 1.7 % 1.2 %
Workers’ compensation 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.2 %
Patients 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.1 %
Other income 0.1 % 0.1 % 0.1 %
Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Additional information regarding our home health and hospice segment’s operating results for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, is as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, Percentage Change
2020 2019 2018 2020 vs. 2019 2019 vs. 2018
(In Millions, Except Percentage Change)
Net operating revenues:
Home health
$ 877.6 $ 918.0 $ 814.6 (4.4) % 12.7 %
Hospice
200.6 174.0 116.5 15.3 % 49.4 %
Home health and hospice segment revenues
1,078.2 1,092.0 931.1 (1.3) % 17.3 %
Operating expenses:
Cost of services sold (excluding depreciation and amortization)
511.3 506.2 438.4 1.0 % 15.5 %
Support and overhead costs
402.8 381.7 323.5 5.5 % 18.0 %
Other income - - (0.5) - % 100.0 %
Equity in net income of nonconsolidated affiliates
(0.5) (1.2) (1.2) (58.3) % - %
Noncontrolling interests 1.3 9.5 8.5 (86.3) % 11.8 %
Segment Adjusted EBITDA
$ 163.3 $ 195.8 $ 162.4 (16.6) % 20.6 %
(Actual Amounts)
Home health:
Total admissions 194,249 194,498 166,448 (0.1) % 16.9 %
Episodic admissions 158,912 159,727 137,396 (0.5) % 16.3 %
Recertifications
114,775 116,084 111,581 (1.1) % 4.0 %
Episodes
268,508 275,578 243,698 (2.6) % 13.1 %
Revenue per episode
$ 2,905 $ 2,972 $ 2,968 (2.3) % 0.1 %
Episodic visits per episode
16.4 17.1 17.6 (4.1) % (2.8) %
Total visits
5,139,472 5,431,621 4,959,645 (5.4) % 9.5 %
Cost per visit
$ 80 $ 77 $ 76 3.9 % 1.3 %
Hospice:
Admissions
12,878 10,452 7,474 23.2 % 39.8 %
Patient days
1,367,060 1,197,927 790,984 14.1 % 51.4 %
Average daily census
3,735 3,282 2,167 13.8 % 51.5 %
Revenue per day
$ 147 $ 145 $ 147 1.4 % (1.4) %
Operating Expenses as a % of Net Operating Revenues
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Operating expenses:
Cost of services sold (excluding depreciation and amortization) 47.4 % 46.4 % 47.1 %
Support and overhead costs 37.4 % 35.0 % 34.7 %
2020 Compared to 2019
Net Operating Revenues
The decline in home health revenue during 2020 compared to 2019 was driven by decreased volumes and pricing. Same-store episodic admissions declined 6.1% during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to the pandemic. New-store episodic admissions growth of 5.6% for 2020 primarily resulted from the acquisition of Alacare on July 1, 2019. Revenue per episode during 2020 compared to 2019 was negatively impacted by the implementation of the Patient Driven Groupings Model (the “PDGM”) on January 1, 2020, offset by the suspension of sequestration starting in May 2020. Hospice revenue increased during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to the acquisition of Alacare and same-store admissions growth of 8.1%.
See Note 2, Business Combinations, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this report for information regarding our acquisitions discussed above.
Adjusted EBITDA
The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA during 2020 compared to 2019 resulted from COVID-related impacts on patient volumes as discussed above, a decrease in Medicare reimbursement rates primarily related to the implementation of PDGM, and an increase in Cost of services and Support and overhead costs as a percent of revenues. Cost of services as a percent of revenues increased primarily due to COVID-related impacts on patient volumes, staff productivity and medical supplies, as well as the award of additional paid-time-off to employees in response to the pandemic. Support and overhead costs as a percent of revenues increased primarily due to an increase in sales force full-time equivalents, increased administrative costs associated with the implementation of the PDGM and the Review Choice Demonstration programs, and a decline in the revenue base.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash on hand, cash flows from operations, and borrowings under our revolving credit facility.
The objectives of our capital structure strategy are to ensure we maintain adequate liquidity and flexibility. Pursuing and achieving those objectives allow us to support the execution of our operating and strategic plans and weather temporary disruptions in the capital markets and general business environment. Maintaining adequate liquidity is a function of our unrestricted Cash and cash equivalents and our available borrowing capacity. Maintaining flexibility in our capital structure is a function of, among other things, the amount of debt maturities in any given year, the options for debt prepayments without onerous penalties, and limiting restrictive terms and maintenance covenants in our debt agreements.
To further enhance our liquidity and ensure availability under our credit agreement, in April 2020, we amended our credit agreement primarily to provide covenant relief due to business disruptions from the pandemic. The amendment included, among other things, the carve-out of the pandemic from the definition of material adverse effect for 364 days and modifications to the interest coverage and leverage ratios under the agreement. In May 2020, we issued an additional $300 million of our existing 4.50% Senior Notes due 2028 at a price of 99.0% of the principal amount and an additional $300 million of our existing 4.75% Senior Notes due 2030 at a price of 98.5% of the principal amount, which resulted in approximately $583 million in net proceeds. We used a portion of the net proceeds from this borrowing, together with cash on hand, to repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility.
In October 2020, we issued $400 million aggregate principal amount of 4.625% Senior Notes due 2031 at par. We used the net proceeds from this borrowing plus approximately $300 million of cash on hand to fully redeem approximately $700 million of the 2024 Notes at par in November 2020. As a result of this redemption, we recorded a $2.3 million Loss on early extinguishment of debt in the fourth quarter of 2020.
We have been disciplined in creating a capital structure that is flexible with no significant debt maturities prior to 2023. We continue to have a strong, well-capitalized balance sheet, including a substantial portfolio of owned real estate, and we have significant availability under our revolving credit facility. We continue to generate strong cash flows from operations, and we have significant flexibility with how we choose to invest our cash and return capital to shareholders.
See Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Current Liquidity
As of December 31, 2020, we had $224.0 million in Cash and cash equivalents. This amount excludes $86.9 million in restricted cash ($65.4 million included in Restricted cash and $21.5 million included in Other long-term assets in our consolidated balance sheet) and $72.6 million of restricted marketable securities (included in Other long-term assets in our
consolidated balance sheet). Our restricted assets pertain primarily to obligations associated with our captive insurance company, as well as obligations we have under agreements with joint venture partners. See Note 4, Cash and Marketable Securities, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
In addition to Cash and cash equivalents, as of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $963 million available to us under our revolving credit facility. Our credit agreement governs the substantial majority of our senior secured borrowing capacity and contains a leverage ratio and an interest coverage ratio as financial covenants. Our leverage ratio is defined in our credit agreement as the ratio of consolidated total debt (less up to $300 million of cash on hand) to Adjusted EBITDA for the trailing four quarters. In calculating the leverage ratio under our credit agreement, we are permitted to use pro forma Adjusted EBITDA, the calculation of which includes historical income statement items and pro forma adjustments resulting from (1) the dispositions and repayments or incurrence of debt and (2) the investments, acquisitions, mergers, amalgamations, consolidations and operational changes from acquisitions to the extent such items or effects are not yet reflected in our trailing four-quarter financial statements. Our interest coverage ratio is defined in our credit agreement as the ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to consolidated interest expense, excluding the amortization of financing fees, for the trailing four quarters. As of December 31, 2020, the maximum leverage ratio requirement per our credit agreement was 6.50x and the minimum interest coverage ratio requirement was 2.0x, and we were in compliance with these covenants. Based on Adjusted EBITDA for 2020 and the interest rate in effect under our credit agreement during the three-month period ended December 31, 2020, if we had drawn on the first day and maintained the maximum amount of outstanding draws under our revolving credit facility for the entire year, we would still be in compliance with the maximum leverage ratio and minimum interest coverage ratio requirements.
We do not face near-term refinancing risk, as the amounts outstanding under our credit agreement do not mature until 2024, and our bonds all mature in 2023 and beyond. See the “Contractual Obligations” section below for information related to our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2020.
We acquired a significant portion of our home health and hospice business when we purchased EHHI Holdings, Inc. (“EHHI”) on December 31, 2014. In the acquisition, we acquired all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of EHHI, other than equity interests contributed to Encompass Health Home Health Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings”), a subsidiary of Encompass Health and an indirect parent of EHHI, by certain sellers in exchange for shares of common stock of Holdings. Those sellers were members of EHHI management, and they contributed a portion of their shares of common stock of EHHI, valued at approximately $64 million on the acquisition date, in exchange for approximately 16.7% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Holdings. At any time after December 31, 2017, each management investor had the right (but not the obligation) to have his or her shares of Holdings stock repurchased by Encompass Health for a cash purchase price per share equal to the fair value. The fair value was determined using the product of the trailing twelve-month adjusted EBITDA measure for Holdings and a specified median market price multiple based on a basket of public home health companies and transactions, after adding cash and deducting indebtedness that included the outstanding principal balance under any intercompany notes. In February 2018, each management investor exercised the right to sell one-third of his or her shares of Holdings stock to Encompass Health, representing approximately 5.6% of the outstanding shares of the common stock of Holdings. On February 21, 2018, Encompass Health settled the acquisition of those shares upon payment of approximately $65 million in cash. In July 2019, we received additional exercise notices, representing approximately 5.6% of the outstanding shares of the common stock of Holdings. In September 2019, Encompass Health settled the acquisition of those shares upon payment of approximately $163 million in cash. As of December 31, 2019, the value of those outstanding shares of Holdings owned by management investors was approximately $208 million. In January 2020, we received additional exercise notices, representing approximately 4.3% of the outstanding shares of the common stock of Holdings. In February 2020, Encompass Health settled the acquisition of those shares upon payment of approximately $162 million in cash. Upon settlement of these exercises, approximately $46 million of the shares of Holdings held by two management investors remained outstanding.
On February 20, 2020, Encompass Health entered into exchange agreements (each, an “Exchange Agreement”) with these two management investors, pursuant to which they had the right to exchange all of the remaining shares of Holdings held by them for shares of common stock of Encompass Health (the “EHC Shares”). Each of the Exchange Agreements provided that the management investor must deliver a written exchange notice (an “Exchange Notice”) to Encompass Health in order to exchange his or her remaining shares of Holdings for EHC Shares. Each Exchange Agreement further provided that the number of EHC Shares to be delivered to the management investor was to be determined by dividing the fair value of the shares of Holdings held by the management investor on the date of the Exchange Agreement by the last reported sales price of Encompass Health’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) on the date of delivery of the Exchange Notice.
On February 20, 2020, Encompass Health received an Exchange Notice from each of the management investors. Based on the last sales price of Encompass Health’s common stock on the NYSE on February 20, 2020, Encompass Health
delivered an aggregate 560,957 EHC Shares to the management investors. The total number of EHC Shares issued pursuant to the exchange agreements on March 6, 2020 represented less than 0.6% of the outstanding shares of Encompass Health common stock. Encompass Health issued the EHC Shares from its treasury shares. Encompass Health now owns 100% of Holdings and EHHI. See also Note 12, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
In conjunction with the EHHI acquisition, we granted stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) based on Holdings common stock to certain members of EHHI management at closing. Half of the SARs vested on December 31, 2018 and the remainder vested on December 31, 2019. Upon exercise, each SAR must be settled for cash in the amount by which the per share fair value of Holdings’ common stock on the exercise date exceeds the per share fair value on the grant date. In February 2019, members of the management team exercised a portion of their vested SARs for approximately $13 million in cash. In July 2019, members of the management team exercised the remainder of the vested SARs, which resulted in cash distributions of approximately $55 million. As of December 31, 2019, the fair value of the remaining 115,545 SARs was approximately $101 million, all of which was included in Other current liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. In January 2020, members of the management team exercised the remaining SARs and in February 2020, we settled those awards upon payment of approximately $101 million in cash. See also Note 14, Share-Based Payments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
We anticipate we will continue to generate strong cash flows from operations that, together with availability under our revolving credit facility, will allow us to invest in growth opportunities and continue to improve our existing business. We also will continue to consider additional shareholder value-enhancing strategies such as repurchases of our common stock and distribution of common stock dividends, including the potential growth of the quarterly cash dividend on our common stock, recognizing that these actions may increase our leverage ratio. See also the “Authorizations for Returning Capital to Stakeholders” section of this Item.
See Item 1A, Risk Factors, for a discussion of risks and uncertainties facing us.
Sources and Uses of Cash
The following table shows the cash flows provided by or used in operating, investing, and financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 (in millions):
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 704.7 $ 635.3 $ 762.4
Net cash used in investing activities (407.5) (657.4) (424.5)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (145.9) 48.2 (321.2)
Increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $ 151.3 $ 26.1 $ 16.7
2020 Compared to 2019
Operating activities. The increase in Net cash provided by operating activities during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from the timing of and increase in payroll accruals offset by a decrease in Net income due to the impact of the pandemic on our operations (see the “Results of Operations” section of this Item). The increase in payroll accruals was attributable to the award of additional paid time off to employees during the second quarter of 2020 in response to the pandemic and the deferral of payroll taxes resulting from government relief efforts during the pandemic.
Investing activities. The decrease in Net cash used in investing activities during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from the acquisition of Alacare during the third quarter of 2019, as described in Note 2, Business Combinations, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Financing activities. The increase in Net cash used in financing activities during 2020 compared to 2019 primarily resulted from the redemption of the Company's 2024 Notes in November 2020 partially offset by the issuance of senior notes in May and October 2020. See also Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Contractual Obligations
Our consolidated contractual obligations as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (in millions):
Total 2021 2022-2023 2024-2025 2026 and thereafter
Long-term debt obligations:
Long-term debt, excluding revolving credit facility and finance lease obligations (a)
$ 2,897.2 $ 14.5 $ 339.6 $ 581.8 $ 1,961.3
Interest on long-term debt (b)
944.0 136.4 258.0 225.4 324.2
Finance lease obligations (c)
633.6 53.9 100.5 97.4 381.8
Operating lease obligations (d)
338.3 58.5 90.2 62.1 127.5
Purchase obligations (e)
125.9 55.8 42.8 17.9 9.4
Other long-term liabilities (f)(g)
3.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
Total $ 4,942.2 $ 319.5 $ 831.5 $ 985.0 $ 2,806.2
(a)Included in long-term debt are amounts owed on our bonds payable and other notes payable. These borrowings are further explained in Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
(b)Interest on our fixed rate debt is presented using the stated interest rate. Interest expense on our variable rate debt is estimated using the rate in effect as of December 31, 2020. Interest pertaining to our credit agreement and bonds is included to their respective ultimate maturity dates. Interest related to finance lease obligations is excluded from this line (see Note 7, Leases, and Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements). Amounts exclude amortization of debt discounts, amortization of loan fees, or fees for lines of credit that would be included in interest expense in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
(c)Amounts include interest portion of future minimum finance lease payments.
(d)Our inpatient rehabilitation segment leases approximately 12% of its hospitals as well as other property and equipment under operating leases in the normal course of business. Our home health and hospice segment leases relatively small office spaces in the localities it serves, space for its corporate office, and other equipment under operating leases in the normal course of business. Amounts include interest portion of future minimum operating lease payments. For more information, see Note 7, Leases, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
(e)Purchase obligations include agreements to purchase goods or services that are enforceable and legally binding on Encompass Health and that specify all significant terms, including: fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum, or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the transaction. Purchase obligations exclude agreements that are cancelable without penalty. Our purchase obligations primarily relate to software licensing and support and medical equipment. Purchase obligations are not recognized in our consolidated balance sheet.
(f)Because their future cash outflows are uncertain, the following noncurrent liabilities are excluded from the table above: general liability, professional liability, and workers’ compensation risks, noncurrent amounts related to third-party billing audits, and deferred income taxes. For more information, see Note 11, Self-Insured Risks, Note 16, Income Taxes, and Note 18, Contingencies and Other Commitments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
(g)The table above does not include Redeemable noncontrolling interests of $31.6 million because of the uncertainty surrounding the timing and amounts of any related cash outflows. See Note 12, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Our capital expenditures include costs associated with our hospital refresh program, de novo projects, capacity expansions, technology initiatives, and building and equipment upgrades and purchases. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we made capital expenditures of approximately $408 million for property and equipment, intangible assets, and capitalized software. These expenditures in 2020 are exclusive of approximately $1 million in net cash related to our acquisition activity. During 2021, we expect to spend approximately $580 million to $665 million for capital expenditures. Approximately $165 million to $195 million of this budgeted amount is considered nondiscretionary expenditures, which we may refer to in other filings as “maintenance” expenditures. In addition, we expect to spend approximately $50 million to $100 million on home health and hospice acquisitions during 2021. Actual amounts spent will be dependent upon the timing of construction projects and acquisition opportunities for our home health and hospice business.
Authorizations for Returning Capital to Stakeholders
In October 2019, February 2020, May 2020, July 2020, and October 2020, our board of directors declared cash dividends of $0.28 per share that were paid in January 2020, April 2020, July 2020, October 2020, and January 2021, respectively. We expect quarterly dividends to be paid in January, April, July, and October. However, the actual declaration of any future cash dividends, and the setting of record and payment dates as well as the per share amounts, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after consideration of various factors, including our capital position and alternative uses of funds. Cash dividends are expected to be funded using cash flows from operations, cash on hand, and availability under our revolving credit facility.
On October 28, 2013, we announced our board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of our common stock, which amount was subsequently increased to $250 million. On July 24, 2018, our board approved resetting the aggregate common stock repurchase authorization to $250 million. As of December 31, 2020, approximately $198 million remained under this authorization. The repurchase authorization does not require the repurchase of a specific number of shares, has an indefinite term, and is subject to termination at any time by our board of directors. Subject to certain terms and conditions, including a maximum price per share and compliance with federal and state securities and other laws, the repurchases may be made from time to time in open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, or other transactions, including trades under a plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Supplemental Guarantor Financial Information
Our indebtedness under our credit agreement and the 5.125% Senior Notes due 2023, 5.75% Senior Notes due 2025, 4.50% Senior Notes due 2028, 4.75% Senior Notes due 2030, and 4.625% Senior Notes due 2031, (collectively, the “Senior Notes”) are guaranteed by certain consolidated subsidiaries. These guarantees are full and unconditional and joint and several, subject to certain customary conditions for release. The Senior Notes are guaranteed on a senior, unsecured basis by all of our existing and future subsidiaries that guarantee borrowings under our credit agreement and other capital markets debt. The other subsidiaries of Encompass Health do not guarantee the Senior Notes (such subsidiaries are referred to as the “non-guarantor subsidiaries”).
The terms of our credit agreement allow us to declare and pay cash dividends on our common stock so long as: (1) we are not in default under our credit agreement, and (2) either (a) our senior secured leverage ratio (as defined in our credit agreement) remains less than or equal to 2x and our leverage ratio (as defined in our credit agreement) remains less than or equal to 4.50x or (b) there is capacity under the Available Amount as defined in the credit agreement. The terms of our Senior Notes indenture allow us to declare and pay cash dividends on our common stock so long as (1) we are not in default, (2) the consolidated coverage ratio (as defined in the indenture) exceeds 2x or we are otherwise allowed under the indenture to incur debt, and (3) we have capacity under the indenture’s restricted payments covenant to declare and pay dividends. See Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
As discussed in Note 12, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, Holdings had 5.5% noncontrolling interest as of December 31, 2019, and accordingly, Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiaries were not guarantors of our debt. In February 2020, we acquired for cash all but 1.2% of the remaining noncontrolling interest in Holdings following the most recent exercise of the put option by the management investors. On February 20, 2020, Encompass Health Corporation and each of the two remaining management investors agreed to exchange the remaining shares representing the noncontrolling interest for an equal value of shares of common stock of Encompass Health Corporation. We settled the exchanges on March 6, 2020 and now own 100% of Holdings. Pursuant to the terms of our credit agreement and our Senior Notes indentures, we executed joinders for Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiaries on April 23, 2020 at which time they became guarantors of the indebtedness under the credit agreement and our Senior Notes indentures.
Summarized financial information is presented below for Encompass Health, the parent company, and the subsidiary guarantors on a combined basis after elimination of intercompany transactions and balances among Encompass Health and the subsidiary guarantors and does not include investments in and equity in the earnings of non-guarantor subsidiaries.
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
(In Millions)
Net operating revenues $ 3,402.0
Intercompany revenues generated from non-guarantor subsidiaries 19.9
Total net operating revenues $ 3,421.9
Operating expenses $ 2,988.8
Intercompany expenses incurred in transactions with non-guarantor subsidiaries 30.3
Total operating expenses $ 3,019.1
Income from continuing operations $ 167.8
Net income $ 167.8
Net income attributable to Encompass Health
$ 167.3
As of December 31, 2020
(In Millions)
Total current assets $ 718.5
Property and equipment, net
$ 1,597.5
Goodwill
1,973.6
Intercompany receivable due from non-guarantor subsidiaries 154.3
Other noncurrent assets 702.4
Total noncurrent assets $ 4,427.8
Total current liabilities $ 582.1
Long-term debt, net of current portion
$ 3,213.1
Other noncurrent liabilities 307.5
Total noncurrent liabilities
$ 3,520.6
Adjusted EBITDA
Management believes Adjusted EBITDA as defined in our credit agreement is a measure of our ability to service our debt and our ability to make capital expenditures. We reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to Net income and to Net cash provided by operating activities.
We use Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis as a liquidity measure. We believe this financial measure on a consolidated basis is important in analyzing our liquidity because it is the key component of certain material covenants contained within our credit agreement, which is discussed in more detail in Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. These covenants are material terms of the credit agreement. Noncompliance with these financial covenants under our credit agreement-our interest coverage ratio and our leverage ratio-could result in our lenders requiring us to immediately repay all amounts borrowed. If we anticipated a potential covenant violation, we would seek relief from our lenders, which would have some cost to us, and such relief might be on terms less favorable to us than those in our existing credit agreement. In addition, if we cannot satisfy these financial covenants, we would be prohibited under our credit agreement from engaging in certain activities, such as incurring additional indebtedness, paying common stock dividends, making certain payments, and acquiring and disposing of assets. Consequently, Adjusted EBITDA is critical to our assessment of our liquidity.
In general terms, the credit agreement definition of Adjusted EBITDA, therein referred to as “Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA,” allows us to add back to consolidated Net income interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization and then add back to consolidated Net income (1) all unusual or nonrecurring items reducing consolidated Net income (of which only up to $10 million in a year may be cash expenditures), (2) any losses from discontinued operations, (3) non-ordinary course fees, costs and expenses incurred with respect to any litigation or settlement, (4) share-based compensation expense, (5) costs and expenses associated with changes in the fair value of marketable securities, (6) costs and expenses associated with the issuance or prepayment debt and acquisitions, and (7) any restructuring charges not in excess of 20% of Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA. We also subtract from consolidated Net income all unusual or nonrecurring items to the extent they increase consolidated Net income.
Under the credit agreement, the Adjusted EBITDA calculation does not require us to deduct net income attributable to noncontrolling interests or gains on fair value adjustments of hedging and equity instruments, disposal of assets, and development activities. It also does not allow us to add back losses on fair value adjustments of hedging instruments or unusual or nonrecurring cash expenditures in excess of $10 million. These items and amounts, in addition to the items falling within the credit agreement’s “unusual or nonrecurring” classification, may occur in future periods, but can vary significantly from period to period and may not directly relate to, or be indicative of, our ongoing liquidity or operating performance. Accordingly, the Adjusted EBITDA calculation presented here includes adjustments for them.
Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, and the items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing financial performance. Therefore, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered a substitute for Net income or cash flows from operating, investing, or financing activities. Because Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement determined in accordance with GAAP and is thus susceptible to varying calculations, Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. Revenues and expenses are measured in accordance with the policies and procedures described in Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Our Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 was as follows (in millions):
Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Net income $ 368.8 $ 445.8 $ 375.4
Loss (income) from discontinued operations, net of tax, attributable to Encompass Health
- 0.6 (1.1)
Provision for income tax expense 103.8 115.9 118.9
Interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees 184.2 159.7 147.3
Loss on early extinguishment of debt 2.3 7.7 -
Government, class action, and related settlements 2.8 - 52.0
Loss on disposal or impairment of assets 11.6 11.1 5.7
Depreciation and amortization 243.0 218.7 199.7
Stock-based compensation expense 29.5 114.4 85.9
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (84.6) (87.1) (83.1)
Transaction costs - 2.1 1.0
Gain on consolidation of joint venture formerly accounted for under the equity method of accounting (2.2) (19.2) -
SARs mark-to-market impact on noncontrolling interests - (5.0) (2.6)
Change in fair market value of equity securities (0.4) (0.8) 1.9
Payroll taxes on SARs exercise 1.5 1.0 -
Adjusted EBITDA $ 860.3 $ 964.9 $ 901.0
Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Adjusted EBITDA
For the Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 2018
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 704.7 $ 635.3 $ 762.4
Interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees 184.2 159.7 147.3
Equity in net income of nonconsolidated affiliates 3.5 6.7 8.7
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in continuing operations (84.6) (87.1) (83.1)
Amortization of debt-related items (7.2) (4.5) (4.0)
Distributions from nonconsolidated affiliates (3.8) (6.6) (8.3)
Current portion of income tax expense 51.4 75.9 128.0
Change in assets and liabilities 7.3 180.1 (46.0)
Cash used in (provided by) operating activities of discontinued operations 0.2 4.4 (0.8)
Transaction costs - 2.1 1.0
SARs mark-to-market impact on noncontrolling interests - (5.0) (2.6)
Change in fair market value of equity securities (0.4) (0.8) 1.9
Payroll taxes on SARs exercise 1.5 1.0 -
Other 3.5 3.7 (3.5)
Adjusted EBITDA $ 860.3 $ 964.9 $ 901.0
For additional information see the “Results of Operations” and “Segment Results of Operations” sections of this Item.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
In accordance with the definition under SEC rules, the following qualify as off-balance sheet arrangements:
•any obligation under certain guarantees or contracts;
•a retained or contingent interest in assets transferred to an unconsolidated entity or similar entity or similar arrangement that serves as credit, liquidity, or market risk support to that entity for such assets;
•any obligation under certain derivative instruments; and
•any obligation under a material variable interest held by the registrant in an unconsolidated entity that provides financing, liquidity, market risk, or credit risk support to the registrant, or engages in leasing, hedging, or research and development services with the registrant.
As of December 31, 2020, we do not have any material off-balance sheet arrangements.
As part of our ongoing business, we do not participate in transactions that generate relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities (“SPEs”), which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. As of December 31, 2020, we are not involved in any unconsolidated SPE transactions.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In connection with the preparation of our financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events and apply judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates, and judgments on historical experience, current trends, and other factors we believe to be relevant at the time we prepared our consolidated financial statements. On a regular basis, we review the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates, and judgments to ensure our consolidated financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material.
Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. We believe the following accounting estimates are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, as they require our most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. We have reviewed these critical accounting estimates and related disclosures with the audit committee of our board of directors.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize net operating revenue in the reporting period in which we perform the service based on our best estimate of the transaction price for the type of service provided to the patient. Our estimate of the transaction price includes estimates of price concessions for such items as contractual allowances (principally for patients covered by Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and other third-party payors), potential adjustments that may arise from payment and other reviews, and uncollectible amounts. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Net Operating Revenues,” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this report for a complete discussion of our revenue recognition policies.
Our patient accounting systems calculate contractual allowances on a patient-by-patient basis based on the rates in effect for each primary third-party payor. Certain other factors that are considered and could influence the estimated transaction price are assumed to remain consistent with the experience for patients discharged in similar time periods for the same payor classes, and additional adjustments are provided to account for these factors.
Management continually reviews the revenue transaction price estimation process to consider and incorporate updates to laws and regulations and the frequent changes in managed care contractual terms that result from contract renegotiations and renewals. In addition, laws and regulations governing the Medicare and Medicaid programs are complex and subject to interpretation. If actual results are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments, we may be exposed to gains or losses that could be material.
Due to complexities involved in determining amounts ultimately due under reimbursement arrangements with third-party payors, which are often subject to interpretation and review, we may receive reimbursement for healthcare services authorized and provided that is different from our estimates, and such differences could be material. However, we continually review the amounts actually collected in subsequent periods in order to determine the amounts by which our estimates differed. Historically, such differences have not been material from either a quantitative or qualitative perspective.
The collection of outstanding receivables from third-party payors and patients is our primary source of cash and is critical to our operating performance. Our primary collection risks relate to patient responsibility amounts and claims reviews conducted by MACs or other contractors.
The table below shows a summary of our net accounts receivable balances as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. Information on the concentration of total patient accounts receivable by payor class can be found in Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Accounts Receivable,” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
As of December 31,
2020 2019
(In Millions)
Current:
0 - 30 Days $ 409.4 $ 385.6
31 - 60 Days 54.3 45.2
61 - 90 Days 30.6 25.4
91 - 120 Days 16.9 12.7
120 + Days 51.8 29.8
Patient accounts receivable 563.0 498.7
Other accounts receivable 9.8 7.4
572.8 506.1
Noncurrent patient accounts receivable 123.8 152.1
Accounts receivable $ 696.6 $ 658.2
Changes in general economic conditions (such as increased unemployment rates or periods of recession), business office operations, payor mix, or trends in federal or state governmental and private employer healthcare coverage could affect our collection of accounts receivable. Our collection risks include patient accounts for which the primary insurance carrier has paid the amounts covered by the applicable agreement, but patient responsibility amounts (deductibles and co-payments) remain outstanding, pre-payment claim reviews by our respective MACs, and reimbursement claims audits by governmental or other payors and their agents. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, $117.8 million and $144.5 million of our patient accounts receivable represented denials that were under review or audit in our inpatient rehabilitation segment. If actual results are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments, we may be exposed to gains or losses that could be material. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Net Operating Revenues” and “Accounts Receivable,” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this report.
Self-Insured Risks
We are self-insured for certain losses related to professional liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation risks. Although we obtain third-party insurance coverage to limit our exposure to these claims, a substantial portion of our professional liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation risks are insured through a wholly owned insurance subsidiary. See Note 11, Self-Insured Risks, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a more complete discussion of our self-insured risks.
Our self-insured liabilities contain uncertainties because management must make assumptions and apply judgment to estimate the ultimate cost of reported claims and claims incurred but not reported as of the balance sheet date. Our reserves and provisions for professional liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation risks are based largely upon semi-annual actuarial calculations prepared by third-party actuaries.
Periodically, we review our assumptions and the valuations provided by third-party actuaries to determine the adequacy of our self-insurance reserves. The following are certain of the key assumptions and other factors that significantly influence our estimate of self-insurance reserves: historical claims experience; trending of loss development factors; trends in the frequency and severity of claims; coverage limits of third-party insurance; demographic information; statistical confidence levels; medical cost inflation; payroll dollars; and hospital patient census.
The time period to resolve claims can vary depending upon the jurisdiction, the nature, and the form of resolution of the claims. The estimation of the timing of payments beyond a year can vary significantly. In addition, if current and future claims differ from historical trends, our estimated reserves for self-insured claims may be significantly affected. Our self-insurance reserves are not discounted.
Given the number of factors used to establish our self-insurance reserves, we believe there is limited benefit to isolating any individual assumption or parameter from the detailed computational process and calculating the impact of changing that single item. Instead, we believe the sensitivity in our reserve estimates is best illustrated by changes in the statistical confidence level used in the computations. Using a higher statistical confidence level increases the estimated self-insurance reserves. The following table shows the sensitivity of our recorded self-insurance reserves to the statistical confidence level (in millions):
Net self-insurance reserves as of December 31, 2020:
As reported, with 50% statistical confidence level 136.9
With 70% statistical confidence level 146.3
We believe our efforts to improve patient safety and overall quality of care, as well as our efforts to reduce workplace injuries, have helped contain our ultimate claim costs. See Note 11, Self-Insured Risks, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information.
We believe our self-insurance reserves are adequate to cover projected costs. Due to the considerable variability that is inherent in such estimates, there can be no assurance the ultimate liability will not exceed management’s estimates. If actual results are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments, we may be exposed to gains or losses that could be material.
Goodwill
Absent any impairment indicators, we evaluate goodwill for impairment as of October 1st of each year. We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level and are required to make certain subjective and complex judgments on a number of matters, including assumptions and estimates used to determine the fair value of our inpatient rehabilitation and
home health and hospice reporting units. We assess qualitative factors in each reporting unit to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. The quantitative impairment test is required only if we conclude it is more likely than not a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount.
If, based on our qualitative assessment, we were to believe we must perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test, we would determine the fair value of the applicable reporting unit using generally accepted valuation techniques including the income approach and the market approach. We would validate our estimates under the income approach by reconciling the estimated fair value of the reporting units determined under the income approach to our market capitalization and estimated fair value determined under the market approach. Values from the income approach and market approach would then be evaluated and weighted to arrive at the estimated aggregate fair value of the reporting units.
The income approach includes the use of each reporting unit’s projected operating results and cash flows that are discounted using a weighted-average cost of capital that reflects market participant assumptions. The projected operating results use management’s best estimates of economic and market conditions over the forecasted period including assumptions for pricing and volume, operating expenses, and capital expenditures. Other significant estimates and assumptions include cost-saving synergies and tax benefits that would accrue to a market participant under a fair value methodology. The market approach estimates fair value through the use of observable inputs, including the Company’s stock price.
See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Goodwill and Other Intangibles,” and Note 8, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information.
The following events and circumstances are certain of the qualitative factors we consider in evaluating whether it is more likely than not the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount:
•macroeconomic conditions, such as deterioration in general economic conditions, limitations on accessing capital, or other developments in equity and credit markets;
•industry and market considerations and changes in healthcare regulations, including reimbursement and compliance requirements under the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
•cost factors, such as an increase in labor, supply, or other costs;
•overall financial performance, such as negative or declining cash flows or a decline in actual or forecasted revenue or earnings;
•other relevant company-specific events, such as material changes in management or key personnel or outstanding litigation;
•material events, such as a change in the composition or carrying amount of each reporting unit’s net assets, including acquisitions and dispositions;
•consideration of the relationship of our market capitalization to our book value, as well as a sustained decrease in our share price; and
•length of time since most recent qualitative analysis.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, we performed our annual evaluation of goodwill and determined no adjustment to impair goodwill was necessary. If actual results are not consistent with our assumptions and estimates, we may be exposed to goodwill impairment charges. However, at this time, we continue to believe our inpatient rehabilitation and home health and hospice reporting units are not at risk for any impairment charges.
Income Taxes
We provide for income taxes using the asset and liability method. We also evaluate our tax positions and establish assets and liabilities in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance on uncertainty in income taxes. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Income Taxes,” and Note 16, Income Taxes, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a more complete discussion of income taxes and our policies related to income taxes.
The application of income tax law is inherently complex. Laws and regulations in this area are voluminous and are often ambiguous. We are required to make many subjective assumptions and judgments regarding our income tax exposures.
Interpretations of and guidance surrounding income tax laws and regulations change over time. As such, changes in our subjective assumptions and judgments can materially affect amounts recognized in our consolidated financial statements.
The ultimate recovery of certain of our deferred tax assets is dependent on the amount and timing of taxable income we will ultimately generate in the future, as well as other factors. A high degree of judgment is required to determine the extent a valuation allowance should be provided against deferred tax assets. On a quarterly basis, we assess the likelihood of realization of our deferred tax assets considering all available evidence, both positive and negative. Our operating performance in recent years, the scheduled reversal of temporary differences, our forecast of taxable income in future periods in each applicable tax jurisdiction, our ability to sustain a core level of earnings, and the availability of prudent tax planning strategies are important considerations in our assessment. Our forecast of future earnings includes assumptions about patient volumes, payor reimbursement, labor costs, hospital operating expenses, and interest expense. Based on the weight of available evidence, we determine if it is more likely than not our deferred tax assets will be realized in the future.
Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits contains uncertainties because management is required to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate the exposures associated with our various filing positions which are periodically audited by tax authorities. In addition, our effective income tax rate is affected by changes in tax law, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, and the results of income tax audits.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we increased our valuation allowance by $7.8 million. As of December 31, 2020, we had a remaining valuation allowance of $46.2 million which primarily related to state net operating losses. At the state jurisdiction level, we determined it was necessary to maintain a valuation allowance due to uncertainties related to our ability to utilize a portion of the net operating losses before they expire. The amount of the valuation allowance has been determined for each tax jurisdiction based on the weight of all available evidence, as described above, including management’s estimates of taxable income for each jurisdiction in which we operate over the periods in which the related deferred tax assets will be recoverable.
While management believes the assumptions included in its forecast of future earnings are reasonable and it is more likely than not the net deferred tax asset balance as of December 31, 2020 will be realized, no such assurances can be provided. If management’s expectations for future operating results on a consolidated basis or at the state jurisdiction level vary from actual results due to changes in healthcare regulations, general economic conditions, or other factors, we may need to increase our valuation allowance, or reverse amounts recorded currently in the valuation allowance, for all or a portion of our deferred tax assets. Similarly, future adjustments to our valuation allowance may be necessary if the timing of future tax deductions is different than currently expected. Our income tax expense in future periods will be reduced or increased to the extent of offsetting decreases or increases, respectively, in our valuation allowance in the period when the change in circumstances occurs. These changes could have a significant impact on our future earnings.
Assessment of Loss Contingencies
We have legal and other contingencies that could result in significant losses upon the ultimate resolution of such contingencies. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, “Litigation Reserves,” and Note 18, Contingencies and Other Commitments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information.
We have provided for losses in situations where we have concluded it is probable a loss has been or will be incurred and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining whether a loss is probable and reasonably estimable due to the uncertainty involved in determining the likelihood of future events and estimating the financial statement impact of such events. If further developments or resolution of a contingent matter are not consistent with our assumptions and judgments, we may need to recognize a significant charge in a future period related to an existing contingent matter.
Business Combinations
We account for acquisitions of entities that qualify as business combinations under the acquisition method of accounting. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total consideration is allocated to the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. The excess of the purchase price over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. During the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill.
In determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination, we primarily use the income and multi-period excess earnings approaches to estimate the value of our most significant acquired intangible assets.
Both income approaches utilize projected operating results and cash flows and include significant assumptions such as base revenue, revenue growth rate, projected EBITDA margin, discount rates, rates of increase in operating expenses, and the future effective income tax rates. The valuations of our significant acquired businesses have been performed by a third-party valuation specialist under our management’s supervision. We believe that the estimated fair value assigned to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates that marketplace participants would use. However, such assumptions are inherently uncertain and actual results could differ from those estimates. Future changes in our assumptions or the interrelationship of those assumptions may result in purchase price allocations that are different than those recorded in recent years.
Acquisition related costs are not considered part of the consideration paid and are expensed as operating expenses as incurred. Contingent consideration, if any, is measured at fair value initially on the acquisition date as well as subsequently at the end of each reporting period until the contingency is resolved and settlement occurs. Subsequent adjustments to contingent considerations are recorded in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income. We include the results of operations of the businesses acquired as of the beginning of the acquisition dates.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
For information regarding recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Our primary exposure to market risk is to changes in interest rates on our variable rate long-term debt. We use a sensitivity analysis model to evaluate the impact of interest rate changes on our variable rate debt. As of December 31, 2020, our primary variable rate debt outstanding related to $251.6 million outstanding under our term loan facilities. Assuming outstanding balances were to remain the same, a 1% increase in interest rates would result in an incremental negative cash flow of approximately $2.1 million over the next 12 months, while a 1% decrease in interest rates would result in an incremental positive cash flow of approximately $0.4 million over the next 12 months.
The fair value of our fixed rate debt is determined using inputs, including quoted prices in nonactive markets, that are observable either directly or indirectly, or Level 2 inputs within the fair value hierarchy, and is summarized as follows (in millions):
December 31, 2020 December 31, 2019
Financial Instrument: Book Value Market Value Book Value Market Value
5.125% Senior Notes due 2023
Carrying Value $ 298.1 $ - $ 297.3 $ -
Unamortized debt discount and fees 1.9 - 2.7 -
Principal amount 300.0 302.6 300.0 306.6
5.75% Senior Notes due 2024
Carrying Value - - 697.3 -
Unamortized debt discount and fees - - 2.7 -
Principal amount - - 700.0 708.8
5.75% Senior Notes due 2025
Carrying Value 346.3 - 345.6 -
Unamortized debt discount and fees 3.7 - 4.4 -
Principal amount 350.0 361.4 350.0 369.7
4.50% Senior Notes due 2028
Carrying Value 785.0 - 491.7 -
Unamortized debt discount and fees 15.0 - 8.3 -
Principal amount 800.0 840.0 500.0 519.4
4.75% Senior Notes due 2030
Carrying Value 783.2 - 491.7 -
Unamortized debt discount and fees 16.8 - 8.3 -
Principal amount 800.0 856.0 500.0 520.0
4.625% Senior Notes due 2031
Carrying Value 393.2 - - -
Unamortized debt discount and fees 6.8 - - -
Principal amount 400.0 424.9 - -
Foreign operations, and the related market risks associated with foreign currencies, are currently, and have been, insignificant to our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. See also Note 10, Long-term Debt, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Our consolidated financial statements and related notes are filed together with this report. See the index to financial statements on page for a list of financial statements filed with this report.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A.Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As of the end of the period covered by this report, an evaluation was carried out by our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the
Securities and Exchange Commission and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. Based on our evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on its financial statements. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, we conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, the COSO framework. Based on our evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2020, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.
The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which appears herein.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B.Other Information
None.
PART III
We expect to file a definitive proxy statement relating to our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “2021 Proxy Statement”) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, pursuant to Regulation 14A, not later than 120 days after the end of our most recent fiscal year. Accordingly, certain information required by Part III has been omitted under General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K. Only the information from the 2021 Proxy Statement that specifically addresses disclosure requirements of Items 10-14 below is incorporated by reference.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10.Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant
The information required by Item 10 is hereby incorporated by reference from our 2021 Proxy Statement under the captions “Items of Business Requiring Your Vote-Proposal 1-Election of Directors,” “Corporate Governance and Board Structure-Corporate Governance-Code of Ethics,” “-Board Structure and Committees-Audit Committee,” “-Board Composition and Director Nomination Process-Director Nominees Proposed by Stockholders,” and “Executive Officers.”

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11.Executive Compensation
The information required by Item 11 is hereby incorporated by reference from our 2021 Proxy Statement under the captions “Corporate Governance and Board Structure-Compensation of Directors,” “Compensation and Human Capital Committee Matters,” and “Executive Compensation.”

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by Item 12 is hereby incorporated by reference from our 2021 Proxy Statement under the captions “Executive Compensation-Equity Compensation Plans” and “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management.”

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence
The information required by Item 13 is hereby incorporated by reference from our 2021 Proxy Statement under the captions “Corporate Governance and Board Structure-Director Independence” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.”

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14.Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information required by Item 14 is hereby incorporated by reference from our 2021 Proxy Statement under the caption “Items of Business Requiring Your Vote-Proposal 2-Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.”
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15.Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Financial Statements
See the accompanying index on page for a list of financial statements filed as part of this report.
Financial Statement Schedules
None.
Exhibits
See Exhibit Index immediately following page of this report.