As Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (NASDAQ: AVAH) works through the regulatory approval process for its planned $175.5 million acquisition of Family First Homecare, the company plans to pursue a “thoughtful” M&A strategy in its home health and hospice business.
The company’s M&A strategy – as well as its guidance and results – will feel “absolutely no impact, zero impact” from the recently announced Medicare enrollment moratoria for home health and hospice, CEO Jeff Shaner said. Still, the top executive said he was disappointed in the moratorium.
“A nationwide moratorium is not the way to solve LA County’s specific, targeted fraud, waste and abuse, but I do think it’s consistent with the messaging that CMS has been sharing the last six months,” Shaner said on Aveanna’s first quarter earnings call. “The moratorium was thoughtful to not penalize current Medicare beneficiaries and current providers. But we would like, in these next six months, with the National Alliance of Care at Home, and all of our industry peers, to work with Dr. Oz and CMS to really target the areas where fraud, waste and abuse are occurring.”
While operationally irrelevant to Aveanna, the moratoria punish rural areas in need of increased health care access, Shaner continued.
Atlanta-based Aveanna Healthcare operates in 39 states, offering a range of pediatric and adult home-based services, including nursing, hospice and rehabilitation.
Aveanna expects its acquisition of Family First Homecare to close in late Q2. Following that deal, leadership plans to grow the company inorganically and organically. The company has some free cash flow that it could use for tuck-in acquisitions, but likely “nothing monumental.”
The company saw solid year-over-year growth in all three of its business segments, which Shaner attributed to the company focusing its clinical capacity on its preferred payers. The company aims to achieve eight private duty services preferred payer agreements in 2026, bringing the company’s total number of preferred payer agreements to 38. In Q1, Aveanna achieved four preferred payer agreements in this segment.
In home health, Aveanna expected to add five preferred payer agreements in 2026. In Q1, the company achieved four of these agreements, setting the company up to exceed its 2026 goals.
On the reimbursement side, Aveanna made progress with several of its rate improvement initiatives. The company expects to achieve mid-single-digit state rate enhancements in 2026. In the first quarter, Aveanna received three private duty services state rate wins. In private duty services, Shaner called the rate environment “very stable” and said the company is shifting its focus to cost-of-living and wage rate adjustments.
In Q1, Aveanna’s revenue rang in at $647.9 million, a 15.9% year-over-year increase. Its adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was $84.4 million, a 25.2% increase year-over-year. It increased its full-year revenue guidance to between $2.56 and $2.58 billion.