Health Care Innovator, Former Federal Official Boehler Launches Firm, May Target Senior Housing

Home care entrepreneur and former leader of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) Adam Boehler is launching a new firm, and senior living is believed to be in its sights.

The Landmark Health founder, who most recently led the International Defense Financing Corporation (DFC), on Thursday announced the launch of Rubicon Founders, a firm “focused on building and growing transformational healthcare companies,” according to a press release.

Senior living will be among the investment areas targeted by Rubicon, Bloomberg reported. Boehler confirmed this to Senior Housing News.

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“We’re excited about as it is an area where change and transformation is needed; we are committed to driving that transformation,” he said.

Additionally, Rubicon announced a partnership with two venture capital firms, Oak HC/FT and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS). Greenwich, Connecticut-based Oak HC/FT invests in early-stage start-up firms in health care and financial technology, and has $3.3 billion in assets under management.

With offices in New York City and San Francisco, WCAS provides seed capital for growing companies in the health care and technology spaces.

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Landmark Health works with physician groups, health systems and other organizations to provide in-home care for more than 5,000 chronically ill patients, with services including wellness visits, urgent care, post-acute care and care coordination.

Boehler left the firm in April 2018 to be the director of CMMI, where he would oversee new Medicare payment and delivery models, such as bundled payment programs and accountable care organizations (ACOs). CMMI, created with the launch of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, is intended to drive health-care to more less costly settings.

Boehler left CMMI in July 2019 to lead the DFC, an agency started by the Trump administration in 2018 to oversee the distribution of U.S. foreign aid and development projects.

Rubicon is launching at a time of untapped opportunity, including with regard to integrating senior living, home care and other parts of the health care continuum.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes a 7.35% rate increase to Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP), for states to enhance home- and community-based services during the pandemic. This could prove beneficial for assisted living providers with Medicaid-reimbursements of home- and community-based services as a revenue stream.

Nonprofit providers have been able to grow scale with health- and community-based service lines over the past 12 months, offsetting operational and revenue pressures on higher acuity care settings brought on by Covid-19. One nonprofit, Ohio Living, realized significant growth in its home health and hospice segments during Covid-19, and the provider is set to launch a new physician services line.

And the pandemic increased interest in how a senior housing provider works with home care providers, hospitals and physician groups, Greystone CEO John Spooner said at the Ziegler Finance + Strategy conference.

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