Almost Family, Inc. Comments on Senate Finance Committee Report on Home Health Inquiry

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Following seventeen months of inquiry, and the production by the Company of over 1.2 million pages of documents to the Committee, Almost Family (Nasdaq: AFAM) is pleased that the Committee's report found: "...none of the documents provided to the committee by Almost Family show that executives ever pushed therapists to target thresholds or to pursue more profitable clinical regimens."

William Yarmuth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the report as it relates to Almost Family, "Since the inception of the Company we've always put our patients first and differentiated ourselves with a strong commitment to our decentralized approach to the clinical aspects of our business.  As we said in our reply to the Committee's inquiries, our approach to care is based on the local, decentralized clinical judgments of the licensed medical professionals we employ and the independent physicians who order the care we deliver.  Our corporate office does not dictate care plans to our local clinicians.  Because the home environment varies so widely from patient to patient, we strongly believe that clinicians who actually see the patients in their homes must customize their plans of care on a patient-specific basis as they have the direct knowledge of the necessary steps that must be taken to assist a patient in regaining functional independence.  This allows them to make the best individualized treatment decisions for each patient."

Regarding future changes to home health payment policies, Yarmuth added: "We agree that the number of therapy visits actually provided should be removed from the home health prospective payment model but we feel strongly that at the same time payment policies should be revised to encourage providers to strive for optimal patient outcomes and savings for the Medicare program."

Yarmuth concluded with comments regarding the future role of home health care in the delivery system: "A well-designed, properly controlled and coordinated home health care delivery model can effectively keep a significant number of Americans from ever having to go to a hospital or skilled nursing facility.  This is a more rational and compassionate care delivery model and also has the added benefit of bending the cost curve downward for the Medicare program.  One of the most significant benefits of home health care is that home health significantly reduces preventable high-cost inpatient stays, re-hospitalizations and emergency care visits, yet no part of home health care reimbursement is conditioned on provider success in delivering those benefits to the program.  We fully support the on-going evolution and improvement of the home health payment system to continue to move the program toward value-based purchasing of home health services."

Almost Family, in conjunction with the Partnership for Home Health Advocacy and the National Association for Home Care is actively involved in advancing industry proposals to the Congress and CMS that would accomplish this end.

About Almost Family

Almost Family, Inc., founded in 1976, is a leading regional provider of home health nursing services, with branch locations in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Massachusetts, Missouri, Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Indiana (in order of revenue significance). Almost Family, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate a Medicare-certified segment and a personal care segment. Altogether, Almost Family operates over 150 branch locations in 11 U.S. states.

Forward Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "project," "anticipate," "continue," or similar terms, variations of those terms or the negative of those terms. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current plans, expectations and projections about future events.

Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, the Company's actual results could differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  For a more complete discussion regarding these and other factors which could affect the Company's financial performance, refer to the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its filing on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, in particular information under the headings "Special Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors." The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Almost Family, Inc.

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