Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Certain acquired employee salaries that were previously classified in costs of service revenue for the second quarter of 2018 were reclassified into general and administrative expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 to align with the Company's historical presentation of such job functions as employee roles were clarified during the payroll integration process.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Critical Accounting Policies

The Company’s most critical accounting policies relate to the principles of consolidation and revenue recognition.

Principles of Consolidation

The interim financial information includes all subsidiaries and entities controlled by the Company through direct ownership of majority interest or controlling member ownership of such entities (including, as a result of the Merger, those owned and operated by Almost Family). Third party equity interests in the consolidated joint ventures are reflected as noncontrolling interests in the Company’s interim financial information. See Note 9 of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following table summarizes the percentage of net service revenue earned by type of ownership or relationship the Company had with the operating entity:



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
Ownership type	2018		2017		2018		2017
Wholly-owned subsidiaries	59.5	%	50.6	%	57.5	%	52.1	%
Equity joint ventures	39.5		47.5		41.3		46.1
Other	1.0		1.9		1.2		1.8
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%

All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the Company’s accompanying interim financial information. Business combinations accounted for under the acquisition method have been included in the interim financial information from the respective dates of acquisition.

The Company consolidates equity joint venture entities as the Company has controlling interests in the entities, has voting control over these entities, or has ability to exercise significant influence in the entities. The members of the Company's equity joint ventures participate in profits and losses in proportion to their equity interests. The Company also consolidates entities which have license leasing arrangements as the Company owns 100% of the equity of these subsidiaries.

The Company has various management services agreements under which the Company manages certain operations of agencies. The Company only consolidates these agencies if the Company has an ownership interest and an obligation to absorb the majority of losses, or right to receive the majority of the benefits from the entities that own the agencies.

Revenue Recognition

Basis of Presentation

The Company adopted ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, ("ASU 2014-09") on January 1, 2018 on a full retrospective basis, which required the Company to present the prior comparable period as adjusted. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on the Company's interim financial statements. The Company did not adjust the opening balance of retained earnings to account for the implementation of the requirements of this standard as there are no timing differences related to the recognition of implicit price concessions as part of net service revenue. All amounts previously classified as provision for bad debts were reclassified within the Company's net service revenue. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company recorded $7.1 million and $19.7 million, respectively, of implicit price concessions as a direct reduction of net service revenue that would have been recorded as provision for bad debts prior to the adoption of ASU 2014-09.

Adoption of the standard impacted the Company's previously reported results as follows (amounts in thousands):



	As previously reported			Adjustment for ASU 2014-09			As adjusted
	As of December 31, 2017
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Patient accounts receivable	$	161,898		$	—		$	161,898
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	23,556			(23,556		)	—
	Three Months Ended September 30, 2017
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income:
Net service revenue	272,872			(3,194		)	269,678
Provision for bad debts	3,194			(3,194		)	—
Net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.'s common stockholders	10,906			—			10,906
	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income:
Net service revenue	779,700			(8,238		)	771,462
Provision for bad debts	8,238			(8,238		)	—
Net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.'s common stockholders	31,678			—			31,678
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows:
Provision for bad debts	8,238			(8,238		)	—
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Receivables	(19,569		)	8,238			(11,331		)

Net service revenue equals the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for providing services. Such consideration is due from Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care, Commercial customers, and others for services rendered, and includes, among other things, implicit price concessions for retroactive revenue adjustments due to actual payments from third-party payors, settlement of audits, and reviews. The estimated uncollectible amounts due from these payors are considered implicit price concessions that are a direct reduction to net service revenue. The Company assesses the patient's ability to pay for their healthcare services at the time of patient admission based on the Company's verification of the patient's insurance coverage under the Medicare, Medicaid, and other commercial or managed care insurance programs. Medicare contributes to the net service revenue of the Company’s home health, hospice, facility-based, and healthcare innovations services. Medicaid and other payors contribute to the net service revenue of all of the Company's segments.

Performance obligations are determined based on the nature of the services provided by the Company. The majority of the Company's performance obligation is to provide services to each patient based on medical necessity and identifies the bundle of services to be provided to achieve the goals established in the contract, while the healthcare innovations segment's performance obligation is largely to provide services under customer contracts. Further detail by segment is outlined below. Revenue for performance obligations is satisfied over time and recognized based on actual charges incurred in relation to total expected charges over the measurement period of the performance obligation, which depicts the transfer of services and related benefits received by the patient and customers over the term of the contract to satisfy the obligations. The Company measures the satisfaction of the performance obligation as services are provided.

The Company's performance obligations relate to contracts with a duration of less than one year; therefore, the Company has elected to apply the optional exemption provided by ASC 606 - Revenue Recognition, and is not required to disclose the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied at the end of the reporting period. The unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied performance obligations are generally completed when the patients are discharged.

The Company determines the transaction price for the majority of its performance obligations based on gross charges for services provided, reduced by contractual adjustments provided to third-party payors and implicit price concessions. The Company determines estimates of contractual adjustments and implicit price concessions based on historical collection experience. Estimates of contractual allowance and implicit price concessions are periodically reviewed to ensure they encompass the Company's current contract terms, are reflective of the Company's current patient mix, and are indicative of the Company's historic collections to ensure net service revenue is recognized at its net realizable value.

The following table sets forth the percentage of net service revenue earned by category of payor for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017:



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Home health:
Medicare	72.0	%	72.5	%	72.2	%	72.8	%
Medicaid	1.2		1.1		1.3		1.2
Managed Care, Commercial, and Other	26.8		26.4		26.5		26.0
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%
Hospice:
Medicare	88.4	%	92.1	%	90.5	%	93.0	%
Medicaid	1.0		—		0.7		0.4
Managed Care, Commercial, and Other	10.6		7.9		8.8		6.6
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%
Home and Community-Based Services:
Medicaid	23.8	%	22.3	%	23.4	%	19.1	%
Managed Care, Commercial, and Other	76.2		77.7		76.6		80.9
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%
Facility-Based Services:
Medicare	56.7	%	63.2	%	59.9	%	64.0	%
Managed Care, Commercial, and Other	43.3		36.8		40.1		36.0
	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%
HCI:
Medicare	16.8	%	—	%	21.1	%	—	%
Medicaid	0.2		—		0.3		—
Managed Care, Commercial, and Other	83.0		—		78.6		—
	100.0	%	—	%	100.0	%	—	%

Medicare

Home Health Services

The home health segment's Medicare patients, including certain Medicare Advantage patients, are classified into one of 153 home health resource groups prior to receiving services. Based on the patient’s home health resource group, the Company is entitled to receive a standard prospective Medicare payment for delivering care over a 60-day period referred to as an episode. The Company elects to use the same 60-day length of episode that Medicare recognizes as standard but accelerates revenue upon discharge to align with a patient's episode length, if less than the expected 60 days, which depicts the transfer of services and related benefits received by the patient over the term of the contract necessary to satisfy the obligations. The Company recognizes revenue based on the number of days elapsed during an episode of care within the reporting period.

Final payments from Medicare will reflect base payment adjustments for case-mix and geographic wage differences and 2% sequestration reduction. In addition, final payments may reflect one of four retroactive adjustments to the total reimbursement: (a) an outlier payment if the patient’s care was unusually costly; (b) a low utilization adjustment if the number of visits was fewer than five; (c) a partial payment if the patient transferred to another provider before completing the episode; or (d) a payment adjustment based upon the level of therapy services required. The retroactive adjustments outlined above are recognized in net service revenue when the event causing the adjustment occurs and during the period in which the services are provided to the patient. The Company reviews these adjustments to ensure that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the retroactive adjustments is subsequently resolved. Net service revenue and related patient accounts receivable are recorded at amounts estimated to be realized from Medicare for services rendered.

Hospice Services

The Company's hospice services segment is reimbursed by Medicare under a per diem payment system based on the determined need for the patient on a daily basis. The hospice segment receives one of four predetermined daily rates based upon the level of care the Company furnishes. Each level of care is contingent upon the patient's medical necessity and is distinct under contracted performance obligation, which depicts the transfer of services and related benefits received by the patient over the term of the contract to satisfy the obligations. The Company records net service revenue for hospice services based on the contracted per diem rate over time as services are provided, satisfying the performance obligation.

Hospice payments are subject to variable consideration through an inpatient cap and an overall Medicare payment cap. The inpatient cap relates to individual programs receiving more than 20% of their total Medicare reimbursement from inpatient care services, and the overall Medicare payment cap relates to individual providers receiving reimbursements in excess of a “cap amount,” determined by Medicare to be payment equal to six months of hospice care for the aggregate base of hospice patients, indexed for inflation. The determination for each cap is made annually based on the 12-month period ending on October 31 of each year. The Company monitors its limits on a provider-by-provider basis and records an estimate of its liability for reimbursements received in excess of the cap amount in the reporting period. The Company reviews these estimates to ensure that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the retroactive adjustments is subsequently resolved.

Facility-Based Services

The Company's facility-based services segment is reimbursed primarily by Medicare for services provided under the LTACH prospective payment system. Each LTACH patient is assigned a long-term care diagnosis-related group. The Company is paid a predetermined fixed amount intended to reflect the average cost of treating a Medicare LTACH patient classified in that particular long-term care diagnosis-related group. For selected LTACH patients, the amount may be further adjusted based on length of stay and facility-specific costs, as well as in instances where a patient is discharged and subsequently re-admitted, among other factors. The Company calculates the adjustment based on a historical average of these types of adjustments for LTACH claims paid. Similar to other Medicare prospective payment systems, the rate is also adjusted for geographic wage differences. Net service revenue adjustments resulting from reviews and audits of Medicare cost report settlements are considered implicit price concessions for LTACHs and are measured at expected value. The Company reviews these estimates to ensure that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of LTACH services cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the retroactive adjustments is subsequently resolved. Net service revenue for the Company’s LTACH services are satisfied over time and recognized based on actual charges incurred in relation to total expected charges, which depicts the transfer of services and related benefits received by the customer over the term of the contract to satisfy the obligations.

Non-Medicare Revenues

Substantially all remaining revenues are derived from services provided under a per visit, per hour or unit basis, per assessment or per member per month basis for which revenues are calculated and recorded using payor-specific or patient-specific fee schedules based on the contracted rates in each underlying third party payor or services agreement. Net service revenue is recognized as such services are provided and costs for delivery of such services are incurred.

Contingent Service Revenues

The Company’s Healthcare Innovations segment provides strategic health management services to Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) that have been approved to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP.”) The HCI segment has service agreements with ACOs that provide for sharing of MSSP payments received by the ACO, if any. ACOs are legal entities that contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") to provide services to the Medicare fee-for-service population for a specified annual period with the goal of providing better care for individuals, improving health for populations and lowering costs. ACOs share savings with CMS to the extent that the actual costs of serving assigned beneficiaries are below certain trended benchmarks of such beneficiaries and certain quality performance measures are achieved. The generation of shared savings is the performance obligation of each ACO, which only become certain upon the final issuance of unembargoed calculations by CMS, generally in the third quarter of each year. During the three months ended September 30, 2018, the HCI segment recorded net service revenue of $3.7 million related to the 2017 ACO service periods, as certain ACO's served by the HCI segment received unembargoed calculations from CMS confirming the performance obligation had been met. As of September 30, 2018, no net service revenue was recognized related to potential MSSP payments for savings generated for the program periods that will end December 31, 2018, if any, as it remains unclear as to if performance obligation has been met by any ACO's served by the HCI segment.

Accounts Receivable

The Company reports accounts receivable at amounts ultimately expected to be collected. Accounts receivable are uncollateralized and consist of amounts due from Medicare, Medicaid, other third-party payors, and patients. The credit risk for other concentrations of receivables is limited due to the significance of Medicare as the primary payor. The Company believes the credit risk associated with its Medicare accounts, which have historically exceeded 50% of its patient accounts receivable, is limited due to (i) the historical collection rate from Medicare and (ii) the fact that Medicare is a U.S. government payor. The Company does not believe that there are any other concentrations of receivables from any particular payor that would subject it to any significant credit risk in the collection of accounts receivable.

A portion of the estimated Medicare prospective payment system reimbursement from each submitted home nursing episode is received in the form of a request for anticipated payment (“RAP”). The Company submits a RAP for 60% of the estimated reimbursement for the initial episode at the start of care. The full amount of the episode is billed after the episode has been completed. The RAP is recouped and the payment for the entire episode is paid. If a final bill is not submitted within the greater of 120 days from the start of the episode, or 60 days from the date the RAP was paid, any RAP received for that episode will be recouped by Medicare from any other Medicare claims in process for that particular provider. The RAP and final claim must then be resubmitted. For subsequent episodes of care contiguous with the first episode for a particular patient, the Company submits a RAP for 50% instead of 60% of the estimated reimbursement.

The Company’s Medicare population is paid at prospectively set amounts that can be determined at the time services are rendered. The Company’s Medicaid reimbursement is based on a predetermined fee schedule applied to each individual service it provides. The Company’s managed care contracts are structured similarly to either the Medicare or Medicaid payment methodologies. The Company is able to calculate its actual amount due at the patient level and adjust the gross charges down to the actual amount at the time of billing. This negates the need to record an estimated contractual allowance when reporting net service revenue for each reporting period.

Earnings Per Share

Basic per share information is computed by dividing the relevant amounts from the condensed consolidated statements of income by the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the period, under the treasury stock method. Diluted per share information is also computed using the treasury stock method, by dividing the relevant amounts from the condensed consolidated statements of income by the weighted-average number of shares outstanding plus potentially dilutive shares.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

On May 28, 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, ("ASU 2014-09") which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. ASU 2014-09 replaced most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. The Company adopted the new standard on January 1, 2018, and elected to adopt it using the full retrospective method.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows: Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight classification issues related to the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. Entities should apply this ASU using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. There is no material impact to the Company's interim financial statements upon adoption of ASU 2016-15.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations: Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which assist entities with evaluating whether a set of transferred assets and activities is a business. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. The impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and related disclosures will depend on facts and circumstances of any specific future transactions as evaluated under the new guidance.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, ("ASU 2016-02") which requires lessees to recognize leases with terms exceeding 12 months on the Company's Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. Qualifying leases will be classified as finance or operating right-of-use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities. The new standard is effective on January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted. ASU 2016-02 provides a number of optional practical expedients in transition. The Company expects: i) to elect the ‘package of practical expedients’, which permits us not to reassess under the new standard our prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs, ii) not to elect the use-of-hindsight or the practical expedient pertaining to land easements; the latter not being applicable to us, iii) to elect all of the new standard’s available transition practical expedients. The Company expects this standard to have a significant increase in total assets and total liabilities. While the Company continues to assess all of the effects of adoption, the most significant effects relate to the recognition of ROU assets and lease liabilities on our balance sheet for our operating leased office space and copiers for locations in each segment. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of new disclosures about our leasing activities required under ASU-2016-02; and further, does not expect a significant change in its leasing activities between now and adoption. ASU 2016-02 also provides practical expedients for an entity’s ongoing accounting. The Company currently expects to elect the short-term lease recognition exemption for certain medical devices and storage space leases that qualify, which means it will not recognize ROU assets or lease liabilities, including not recognizing ROU assets or lease liabilities for existing short-term leases of those assets in transition.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which requires an entity to no longer perform a hypothetical purchase price allocation to measure goodwill impairment. Instead, impairment will be measured using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for goodwill impairment tests with measurement dates on or after January 1, 2017.