VNS Health TODAY | Fall 2025


Improving Health Care Access
VNS Health Hospice Care has added Admission RNs and clinical staff—enabling the program to admit almost every patient within a day of their being referred.

VNS Health Expands Hospice Teams, Increasing Capacity

VNS Health Hospice has significantly expanded its team of Hospice Admission Nurses, a strategic move that has transformed its ability to respond swiftly to patient referrals. This growth in staffing creates increased capacity, allowing the program to accept more patients and ensure that hospice services are initiated at the time they’re most needed.
“We’re now able to admit nearly all hospice referrals either the same day or the day after they’re received,” says Brenda Riordan, Senior Vice President of Home Care, Hospice, and Care Management Solutions at VNS Health. “This means patients and families can count on timely support during critical moments in their end-of-life journey.”
VNS Health has also strengthened its ability to support the holistic needs of these patients and their families by adding RN Coordinators of Care, social workers and spiritual care counselors to its hospice interdisciplinary care teams. In addition, the program’s intake liaisons are working more closely with hospital outpatient clinics and large physician practices across New York City to identify hospice-eligible patients earlier.
Why it matters: New York State continues to rank among the lowest in the nation for hospice utilization, with many residents waiting until the final days of life to enter hospice. As the only hospice provider serving all five NYC boroughs, VNS Health is committed to removing barriers to hospice care. By expanding its admissions and care teams and streamlining enrollment processes, the organization is ensuring that more New Yorkers receive compassionate hospice services when they need them most—without delay.
To make a Hospice referral, click here.
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Dr. Nikolaos Migias
“Referring patients to VNS Health is seamless,” says Dr. Nikolaos Migias, a geriatric specialist with Essen Health Care. “We can process the required documents and enroll our patients smoothly and easily.”

Three Reasons Why I Refer Patients to VNS Health Hospice Care

As a geriatric specialist with Essen Health Care, Dr. Nikolaos Migias frequently refers patients with advanced illness to VNS Health Hospice Care. Here are three reasons he gives as to why:
1. VNS Health Hospice serves all five New York City boroughs.
Essen’s service area is broad and many of our patients who need hospice care are homebound. Because VNS Health provides in-home hospice services in all five boroughs, it can provide high-quality hospice care for my patients wherever they may live in New York City. When a patient is approaching end of life and needs to be kept comfortable at home, I know VNS Health is available and accessible.
2. They are very responsive.
Another key advantage that VNS Health Hospice offers is responsiveness. We have excellent communication with their staff, so referring patients is seamless—we can process the required documents and enroll our patients smoothly and easily. Their team members are also extremely responsive following admission. VNS Health Hospice’s nurses and case managers are very good about reaching out to our providers with updates on patients—letting us know, for example, if there’s a change in the patient’s condition.
3. VNS Health provides education and support to referring physician practices.
Another plus is the support VNS Health offers to our physician practices. Providers don’t always feel comfortable about having end-of-life hospice discussions with their patients. VNS Health Hospice has held numerous educational sessions with our provider teams. As a result, many of our team members now realize the benefits of having that hospice discussion earlier, so their patients can receive the benefits of hospice care sooner. This puts everybody on the same page, which is really important.
To make a Hospice referral, click here.
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VNS Health Total
Designed to meet the needs of New York’s large “dual-eligible” population, VNS Health Total combines Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care benefits in a single, integrated health plan.

VNS Health Total
13 Counties Served By VNS Health Total: Total’s service area now includes: New York City, Westchester, Long Island, the Capital region around Albany, and the Buffalo and Rochester areas.

VNS Health’s 5-Star, Integrated Health Plan Now Available in 13 New York Counties

Following its recent expansion to Erie and Monroe counties, VNS Health’s integrated Medicaid Advantage Plus (MAP) plan, VNS Health Total, is now available in 13 New York counties, including its 10 largest counties by population. The only MAP plan to earn a 5-Star quality rating from New York State’s Department of Health, Total’s service area now includes New York City, Westchester, Long Island, the Capital region around Albany, and the Buffalo and Rochester areas.
VNS Health Total, which combines Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care benefits in a single health plan, is also aiming to grow its enrollment and further expand its geographic footprint. Future plans call for extending the plan to the additional 25 New York State counties where VNS Health’s Medicaid Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plan is currently offered.
“MAP plans are critically important in helping New Yorkers who need long-term care to live their best lives,” explains John Burke, VNS Health’s Chief of Health Plans. “We’re proud to be leading New York in offering high-quality integrated health plans like Total.”
Why it matters: Most of the 800,000 New Yorkers who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid still have separate Medicare and Medicaid plans, so their care is often fragmented. New York State is encouraging these “dual eligibles” to join integrated plans like VNS Health Total, which combine Medicare and Medicaid coverage in a single plan. By delivering more coordinated care, these integrated plans provide better health outcomes at less cost.
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New Partnership
VNS Health is partnering with Vitalic, a tech-enabled geriatric behavioral health provider, to ensure that its health plan members with behavioral health conditions get the treatment they need.

New Partnership Improves Behavioral Health Access for Plan Members

VNS Health’s Medicare and Medicaid health plan members now have improved access to specialized behavioral health care, thanks to a partnership between VNS Health and Vitalic, a recently launched geriatric behavioral health platform.
One in four adults aged 65 or older is dealing with a mental health condition—and research shows that managing older adults with untreated mental health conditions costs insurers over three times as much as managing members without behavioral health issues.
Using Vitalic’s risk stratification and predictive modeling, VNS Health is employing the program to identify health plan members who may have a behavioral health issue but have not been diagnosed or engaged therapeutically due to stigma or other barriers to care. Vitalic then provides direct outreach and engages these members with Vitalic’s behavioral health services based on the members’ individual needs, including treatment by geriatric-trained psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, licensed therapists, and mental health support coaches.
Why it matters: VNS Health’s collaboration with Vitalic will help ensure that older health plan members with unmet behavioral health conditions get the treatment they need.
To make a referral to VNS Health’s Behavioral Health, click here.
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Oppose Medicare Cuts
To underscore the importance of adequate Medicare funding for home health care, VNS Health CEO Dan Savitt (left) and Home Care Nurse Nicole Casiano (right) recently met with U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres at his office in the Bronx.

VNS Health Urges Congress to Oppose Medicare Cuts

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a devastating 9% cut—$1 billion nationwide—to Medicare home health care reimbursement next year. This would be the deepest funding reduction the home health care sector has ever faced. CMS’s final decision on the cuts will be announced in late October. If enacted, these cuts would sharply limit access to home health care for millions of Americans.
Why it matters: “If CMS goes through with these latest reductions, many more New Yorkers will be unable to get the care they need,” warns VNS Health CEO Dan Savitt.
What’s at Stake in New York
  • Since 2020, CMS has cut home health Medicare payments by more than 13%.
  • Seventeen New York home care agencies have closed in the past six years, including five just this year.
  • Use of home care services in New York State has dropped by more than 25%—and in “home health deserts” like the Bronx, it’s down nearly 40% or more.
  • If enacted, the latest proposed cuts in Medicare funding will accelerate this loss of access to home care services.
How VNS Health Is Responding
  • Savitt and VNS Health’s Government Affairs team are meeting with members of Congress, including U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres from the Bronx, to explain how the proposed cut impacts their districts and urge them to take action.
  • VNS Health is joining national advocacy events in Washington, D.C. this September to raise its concerns.
  • VNS Health, along with many of its home health frontline team members, submitted official comments to CMS, and VNS Health’s leadership is meeting directly with agency leadership.
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Nursing Scholarships
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson addresses a VNS Health Nurses Month event, as shown on NY1 cable news.

Bronx Borough President Announces VNS Health Nursing Scholarships

At a May Nurses Month event that was televised by NY1, News12, and New York City News Service, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson announced that five VNS Health Nursing Scholarships will be made available specifically for Bronx residents. The comprehensive scholarships cover all educational expenses for Touro University’s five-semester Associate Nursing Degree program, including tuition and textbooks.
In return, scholarship recipients agree to work for VNS Health as full-time registered nurses for at least two years following graduation. VNS Health is also funding similar Touro nursing scholarships across the New York metropolitan area.
Why it matters: The home health industry is currently facing a shortage of nurses and other skilled clinicians, and these nursing scholarships will help fill that gap. The Touro program’s curriculum includes specialized home care courses not typically offered in nursing school, which are being taught by VNS Health nurses.
New scholarship cohorts enter the Touro nursing program every September and January, and all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.
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To make a referral to VNS Health, please call: 1-866-632-2557 or click here.
To read the Fall 2025 issue of VNS Health TODAY online, click here.
To learn more about VNS Health, please visit
vnshealth.org or call 1-800-675-0391