Home Health Care

Sixty-four people, most of them in wheelchairs, were arrested and released after chaining themselves to a White House fence in a demonstration demanding home health care, U.S. Park Police said. The demonstrators were cited on charges of demonstrating without a permit Tuesday, an officer said. The offense carries a maximum fine of $500 and six months in jail.

President Clinton on Monday announced a crackdown on Medicare fraud, targeting the burgeoning home health care market that accounts for a rapidly growing share of federal spending on the elderly. Under the president's plan, Medicare will stop signing up new home health care providers while the Health Care Financing Administration devises new regulations to better screen applicants.

Serving notice that it intends to be a major force in the booming home health care business, Homedco Group Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to buy a Georgia company for $72 million cash. The acquisition of Glasrock Home Health Care Inc. of Smyrna, Ga., would nearly double Homedco's size and position it as the nation's second-largest home health care company in an industry that has been growing annually by up to 30%, analysts said.

Homedco Inc. said Thursday it has completed its acquisition of two other home health care companies. Officials at Homedco's Fountain Valley headquarters said the purchase of Am-Tex Healthcare Services Inc. in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Crest Medical Inc., a subsidiary of Marietta, Ga.-based Medserv Corp., will increase annual revenue by about $16 million. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

With a growing elderly population requiring routine medical attention and with hospitals increasingly releasing patients sooner to curb spiraling costs, health care industry observers say, home medical care providers are heading for prosperous times.