Home health care post-PPS: some California data.

California home health data for the years 1982 through 1987 are analyzed to explore the effects of the implementation of the Prospective Payment System in 1983 and the increase in denial rate for Medicare reimbursed home care in late 1985. After 1983 the following declined: average number of patients per agency, average number of visits per patient, number of freestanding agencies and percentage of reimbursement from Medicare. After 1985 there were declines in the number of patients served, total number of visits, average number of visits per aged client, and number of agencies (proprietary and non-profit) submitting annual reports.