Why health plans are partnering with palliative care providers. April 29, 2026 In recent months, several major health plans have disclosed deals with palliative care providers. The move mirrors a growing awareness of and appreciation for palliative care - which provides symptom relief, can be used alongside curative care and often takes place in the home - according to experts. In the latest agreement, which is slated to begin June 1, Humana inked a deal with Tuesday Health to deliver palliative care to Humana members with serious illness in Texas. Through the partnership, members and their caregivers will have access to Tuesday Health's coordinated clinical guidance, proactive symptom management and interdisciplinary support from nurses, social workers, nurse practitioners and physicians. The partnership reflects a shift in how palliative care is understood and delivered, Mihir Kamdar, head of clinical delivery for Tuesday Health, told McKnight's Home Care Daily Pulse in an email. "Historically, palliative care has often been introduced too late," he said. "What we're seeing now is growing recognition that it should be integrated much earlier, alongside ongoing treatment, to better manage symptoms, support caregivers and help guide complex decisions." "Just as importantly, there's increasing focus on how care is delivered," he added. "Models built around consistent, interdisciplinary care teams that follow patients over time are showing stronger outcomes than fragmented or episodic approaches. That evolution toward longitudinal, provider-led care is where the field is heading, and where we are focused." Other deals of note. The Humana deal follows Tuesday Health's collaboration with Buckeye Health Plan in Ohio, which began Jan. 1. "Our mission is to provide an added layer of supportive care that helps members manage symptoms, navigate complex decisions, and receive care aligned with their goals, earlier and in a more coordinated way," Jim Wieland, CEO of Tuesday Health, told McKnight's Home Care Daily Pulse in an email. "As we've grown, we've focused on building a model that can scale nationally while maintaining the same level of clinical consistency and accountability, delivering care wherever members call home through a combination of in-person and virtual support." Tuesday Health is not the only palliative care provider group forging agreements with health plans. Other notable partnerships: As of the beginning of the year, Blue Cross NC introduced a program through Carelon Palliative Care to support high-risk/high-cost chronic conditions at any stage of illness at home or virtually. And AmeriHealth Insurance Company of New Jersey recently teamed up with Empassion Health Inc. to provide in-home palliative care to Medicare Advantage patients with serious illnesses. The move by insurance plans to expand palliative care relationships is not surprising, given the number of people living with serious illness. At least 13 million people are living with a serious illness, according to the Center to Advance Palliative Care. "Living with serious illness can be overwhelming for members and their families, at any stage of their journey," said Traci Granston, MD, vice president, trend and clinical innovation, Humana, in a statement. "Through our partnership with Tuesday Health, we're expanding access to palliative care that is not limited to end-of-life care but can be provided alongside curative treatment - offering coordinated, whole-person support that helps manage symptoms, improve quality of life and ensure care is aligned with what matters most to each individual." The impact on the healthcare system of not acting fast enough on palliative care is becoming clearer, Kamdar said. "More people are living longer with serious illness, often with significant symptom burden and repeated hospitalizations, yet many still don't receive specialized support until very late, if at all," Kamdar said. "At the same time, there's a growing recognition that access alone isn't enough," he added. "The model of care matters. Consistent, interdisciplinary teams that are involved early and follow patients over time deliver a very different experience and set of outcomes than more fragmented approaches. As healthcare continues to shift toward value-based care, that combination of unmet need and clearer evidence of models that work is driving much greater attention to palliative care." Government push. Legislators are regulators are helping to advance palliative care. Last month, senators and representatives reintroduced the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, which would allow Medicare to cover palliative care treatments such as dialysis and radiation. And in its fiscal year 2025 hospice proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services included a request for information probing hospices' financial challenges associated with providing high-intensity palliative care services. Tuesday Health is looking to regulators to continue to make palliative care accessible. "We would like to see continued progress toward reimbursement models that support earlier, team-based palliative care, particularly models that recognize the value of longitudinal, provider-led care," Kamdar said. "Expanding access will also require investment in workforce development and infrastructure that allows these models to scale while maintaining clinical quality and continuity, in addition to caregiver support," he added. "Thoughtful policy in these areas can meaningfully improve care for patients and families, while also supporting more sustainable healthcare delivery."

Empassion, Karoo Health partner to support heart disease patients approaching end-of-life. March 18, 2026 Empassion Health, a network of at-home palliative care and hospice providers in 45 states, and Karoo Health, a network of around 600 cardiac providers in 11 states, are formalizing a partnership to provide a continuum of care to cardiac patients nearing the end of their lives. The strategic alliance, disclosed Tuesday, allows each company to continue what it does best but in a coordinated fashion. "Empassion is world-class at caring for patients with serious illness, and Karoo is world-class at managing cardiovascular disease," Chase Knight, chief growth officer at Empassion, said in a statement. "Patients benefit when each organization focuses on what it does best, with a clear transition point when the patient's illness advances." Upon realizing that they had an overlap of 600 patients, leaders of Empassion and Karoo decided earlier in 2026 to test whether they could realize benefits from closer coordination of care, Robin Heffernan, Empassion co-founder and CEO, told McKnights Home Care Daily Pulse. "Empassion is really good at avoiding hospitalization for patients in this last year of life," she said. "Karoo and the payer Zing saw that if we can transition patients to Empassion, they can avoid hospitalization. From the patient and caregiver perspective, they have a much better experience and have more supportive services in the home. We think this is a demonstration that you can get better outcomes for the payer and do the right thing for the patient." After running a six-week pilot of their new model, the companies decided to make it official, Heffernan said. Their alliance aims to better support patients living with advanced cardiovascular and other serious diseases as their conditions become more advanced. Karoo and Empassion will work closely together to help patients and caregivers more easily access the expertise of each provider as needed. "Patients with heart disease typically live with their condition for years, their needs change, and escalations occur along the way," Ian Koons, CEO of Karoo, said in a statement. "Karoo intervenes in these moments to improve outcomes while still managing cost. When their illness progresses to an advanced stage, Empassion ensures those patients receive the specialized support they deserve." Besides providing good patient care, the alliance offers a value-based care selling point, the companies noted. "As value-based care continues expanding, health plans are increasingly seeking partners that can coordinate effectively across specialty programs while maintaining clear accountability for patient care," the companies said in a press release. "The Karoo and Empassion partnership provides a structured model that allows care ownership to transition smoothly as patient needs evolve."