Addus Homecare Corp (ADUS) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Addus HomeCare second quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 Addus HomeCare 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，此活動正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Dru Anderson. Please go ahead.

現在我想把會議交給Dru Anderson。請發言。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Addus HomeCare Corporation second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. To the extent any non-GAAP financial measure is discussed in today's call, you will also find a reconciliation of that measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated according to GAAP by going to the company's website and reviewing yesterday's news release.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Addus HomeCare Corporation 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議正在錄音中。如果今天的電話會議中討論了任何非公認會計準則 (GAAP) 財務指標，您也可以訪問公司網站並查看昨天的新聞稿，找到該指標與根據公認會計準則 (GAAP) 計算的最直接可比財務指標的對賬表。

This conference call may also contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements, among others, regarding Addus' expected quarterly and annual financial performance for 2025 or beyond.

本次電話會議也可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性陳述，其中包括有關 Addus 2025 年或以後預期季度和年度財務業績的陳述。

For this purpose, any statements made during this call that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, discussions of forecasts, estimates, targets, plans, beliefs, expectations and the like are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

為此目的，本次電話會議中任何非歷史事實的陳述均可視為前瞻性陳述。在不限制前述條款的前提下，對預測、估計、目標、計劃、信念、期望等內容的討論旨在識別前瞻性陳述。

You are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by important factors, among others, set forth in Addus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its second quarter 2025 news release.

特此提醒您，這些聲明可能會受到 Addus 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件以及 2025 年第二季新聞稿中列出的重要因素的影響。

Consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

因此，實際營運和績效可能與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果有重大差異。本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，無論其是否因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而發生。

I would now like to turn the call over to the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dirk Allison. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想把電話轉給公司董事長兼執行長德克·艾利森先生。先生，請講。

Thank you, Dru. Good morning, and welcome to our 2025 second quarter earnings call. With me today are Brian Poff, our Chief Financial Officer; and Brad Bickham, our President and Chief Operating Officer. As we do on each of our quarterly earnings call, I will begin with a few overall comments, and then Brian will discuss the second quarter results in more detail. Following our comments, the three of us would be happy to respond to any questions.

謝謝，Dru。早安，歡迎參加我們2025年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的有我們的財務長Brian Poff和我們的總裁兼營運長Brad Bickham。正如我們在每個季度財報電話會議上所做的那樣，我將首先進行一些總體評論，然後Brian將更詳細地討論第二季度的業績。在我們評論之後，我們三個人很樂意回答任何問題。

As we announced yesterday afternoon, our total revenue for the second quarter of 2025 was $349.4 million, an increase of 21.8% as compared to the $286.9 million for the second quarter of 2024. This revenue growth resulted in adjusted earnings per share of $1.49 as compared to adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2024 of $1.35, an increase of 10.4%.

正如我們昨天下午宣布的那樣，我們 2025 年第二季的總收入為 3.494 億美元，與 2024 年第二季的 2.869 億美元相比增長了 21.8%。這一營收成長導致調整後每股收益為 1.49 美元，而 2024 年第二季的調整後每股收益為 1.35 美元，成長了 10.4%。

Our adjusted EBITDA was $43.9 million compared to $35.3 million for the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 24.5%. During the second quarter of 2025, we continued to experience consistent cash flows. As of June 30, 2025, we had cash on hand of approximately $91 million.

我們的調整後EBITDA為4,390萬美元，而2024年第二季為3,530萬美元，成長了24.5%。 2025年第二季度，我們持續保持穩定的現金流。截至2025年6月30日，我們持有現金約9,100萬美元。

During the second quarter, we reduced our bank debt by $30 million, leaving a balance of $173 million at quarter end. This gives us a conservative net leverage position at under 1 times adjusted EBITDA, allowing us the flexibility to continue to evaluate and pursue strategic acquisition opportunities.

第二季度，我們減少了3000萬美元的銀行債務，季末餘額為1.73億美元。這使我們保持了保守的淨槓桿率，低於調整後EBITDA的1倍，從而使我們能夠靈活地繼續評估和尋求策略性收購機會。

Now let me discuss certain areas of operation. During the second quarter of 2025, we continued to experience strong hiring performance success, especially in our personal care segment. During the second quarter of 2025, we began to include our Gentiva PCS operation in our hires per business day statistics.

現在，我來討論一些營運領域。 2025年第二季度，我們的招募業績持續強勁成長，尤其是在個人護理領域。從2025年第二季開始，我們開始將Gentiva PCS業務納入我們每個工作日的招募統計數據中。

During the first quarter of this year, we saw our hires per business day at 108 when we include Gentiva. For the second quarter of this year, we achieved hires per business day of 105. In addition to our strong hiring numbers, we continued our momentum in improving starts per business day, which we have seen over the past few quarters.

今年第一季度，包括Gentiva在內，我們每個工作日的招募人數為108人。今年第二季度，我們每個工作日的招募人數為105人。除了強勁的招募數量外，我們每個工作日的開工率也延續了過去幾季的良好勢頭。

With respect to our clinical line, as we have been consistent over the past few quarters, we continue to see improvements in the overall clinical labor environment. However, we do believe that for the foreseeable future, clinical hiring will remain more challenging and geographically variable than what we see in our PCS segment.

就我們的臨床業務線而言，正如過去幾季我們一貫的策略一樣，我們持續看到整體臨床用工環境的改善。然而，我們確信，在可預見的未來，臨床招聘仍將比PCS業務線更具挑戰性，且地理分佈也更具差異性。

On May 31, 2025, the State of Illinois finalized its fiscal 2026 budget with an inclusion of a 3.9% increase in the base hourly reimbursement rate to $30.80 per hour to sustain a minimum wage of $18.75 per hour for direct in-home care service workers.

2025 年 5 月 31 日，伊利諾伊州最終確定了 2026 財年預算，其中包括將基本小報銷率提高 3.9% 至每小時 30.80 美元，以維持直接家庭護理服務人員每小時 18.75 美元的最低工資。

The company expects this rate increase will add approximately $17.5 million in annualized revenues for Addus with margins consistent with our existing Illinois personal care business in the low 20% range and in compliance with the State of Illinois 77% requirement for caregiver wages and benefits.

該公司預計此次升息將為 Addus 增加約 1,750 萬美元的年收入，利潤率與我們現有的伊利諾伊州個人護理業務一致，在 20% 左右，並符合伊利諾伊州對護理人員工資和福利的 77% 要求。

The Illinois rate increase will be effective January 1, 2026, subject to the standard federal approval process. In addition, on June 3, 2025, the state of Texas finalized its fiscal 2026 budget with the inclusion of a 9.9% increase in the base hourly reimbursement rate to $17.13 per hour.

伊利諾伊州的費率上調將於2026年1月1日生效，但需遵循標準的聯邦批准程序。此外，2025年6月3日，德州最終確定了2026財年預算，其中將基本小報銷費率上調9.9%，至每小時17.13美元。

The company expects to generate approximately $17.7 million in additional annualized revenue, assuming implementation consistent with historical precedent of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Managed Medicaid health plans with margins expected to be largely consistent with our existing Texas Personal Care business at just over 20% after caregiver wages are adjusted.

假設實施情況與德克薩斯州衛生與公共服務委員會和德克薩斯州管理醫療補助健康計劃的歷史先例一致，預計公司將產生約 1770 萬美元的額外年收入，利潤率預計將與我們現有的德克薩斯州個人護理業務基本一致，在護理人員工資調整後略高於 20%。

The Texas rate increase will be effective September 1, 2025, again, subject to the standard federal approval process. In our personal care segment, our services continue to receive favorable reimbursement support from many of the states in which we operate.

德州的費率上調將於2025年9月1日生效，同樣需遵循標準的聯邦核准程序。在我們的個人護理業務領域，我們的服務繼續獲得我們營運所在多個州的優惠報銷支援。

We are confident that personal care services continue to deliver real value to state Medicaid programs as well as our managed care partners through a reduction in the overall cost of care. As we stated earlier, we believe these and other benefits associated with home care -- home-based care put us in a favorable position as changes to funding and other aspects of various Medicaid programs are considered.

我們相信，個人護理服務將繼續為州醫療補助計劃以及我們的管理式醫療合作夥伴帶來真正的價值，因為它能夠降低整體護理成本。正如我們之前所述，我們相信，這些以及與家庭護理相關的其他優勢——家庭護理——將使我們在考慮資金和其他方面的變化時處於有利地位。

As for our clinical segments, on August 1, CMS issued the 2026 final rate for hospice providers, which will be effective on October 1 of this year. The final rate increased 20 basis points over the earlier proposed rate, leading to an average 2.6% increase for hospice providers.

就我們的臨床部門而言，8月1日，CMS發布了臨終關懷機構2026年的最終費率，該費率將於今年10月1日生效。最終費率比先前提議的費率提高了20個基點，導致臨終關懷機構的平均費率上漲2.6%。

While we appreciate CMS slightly increasing this final rate, we are disappointed that this increase does not fully reflect the increasing cost of care for this service. Earlier on June 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the calendar year 2026 home health proposed payment rule.

雖然我們感謝CMS略微提高了最終費率，但我們對這一漲幅未能充分反映該服務日益增長的醫療成本感到失望。此前，6月30日，醫療保險和醫療補助服務中心（CMS）發布了2026日曆年家庭健康保險擬議支付規則。

This proposed rule projects a 6.4% aggregate reduction in Medicare payments to home health agencies in 2026, amounting to an estimated $1.1 billion decrease compared to 2025. The proposal includes a 2026 market basket payment update of 2.4%, reduced by a 3.7% decrease from the permanent behavioral adjustment as well as a first-time 4.6% decrease from the temporary adjustment, which is the result of the CMS determination that a clawback of past payments is warranted to maintain budget neutrality.

該擬議規則預計，2026 年醫療保險支付給家庭保健機構的總額將減少 6.4%，與 2025 年相比減少約 11 億美元。該提案包括將 2026 年的市場籃子支付更新為 2.4%，比永久性行為調整減少了 3.7%，比臨時調整首次減少了 4.6%，這是 CMS 確定有必要收回過去的支付以保持預算中立的結果。

It is our view that this clawback is improper and results from an incorrect belief that home health providers have received unjustified rate increases in the last few years. We, along with others in the industry, believe that this reduction will have a significant negative impact on the availability of home health care and will potentially lead to many individuals having to access skilled post-acute services in a more expensive facility-based setting.

我們認為，這項回扣政策不妥，源於一種錯誤的觀念，即認為家庭醫療保健服務提供者在過去幾年中獲得了不合理的費率上漲。我們和業內其他人士一樣，認為這項下調將對家庭醫療保健的可及性產生重大負面影響，並可能導致許多人不得不在更昂貴的機構環境中接受專業的急性後期護理服務。

Addus will continue to work with our leading home health providers, along with the National Alliance for Care at Home, our industry trade group, to advocate for a final rule that more appropriately reflects the true cost of care for home health providers.

Addus 將繼續與我們領先的家庭保健提供者以及我們的行業貿易組織全國家庭護理聯盟合作，倡導制定更恰當地反映家庭保健提供者真實護理成本的最終規則。

Now let me discuss our same-store revenue growth for the second quarter of 2025. For our personal care segment, our same-store revenue growth was 7.4% compared to the second quarter of 2024. During the second quarter of 2025, we also saw personal care same-store hours increase by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2024.

現在，讓我來討論一下我們 2025 年第二季的同店營收成長情況。對於我們的個人護理部門，與 2024 年第二季相比，我們的同店收入成長了 7.4%。在 2025 年第二季度，我們也看到個人護理同店營業時間與 2024 年同期相比增加了 1.6%。

On a sequential basis, personal care same-store hours and billable census increased by 1.7% and 0.3%, respectively. As we have stated over the past several quarters, we expect volume growth to comprise a greater percentage of our personal care same-store revenue growth going forward.

個人照護同店營業時間和計費普查資料較上月成長1.7%和0.3%。正如我們過去幾季所指出的，我們預計未來銷售成長將在個人護理同店營收成長中佔據更大比重。

In that regard, it is encouraging that we continue to see incremental improvements in our percentage of hours served compared to authorized hours. We continue to work towards our goal of consistently growing same-store hours at a minimum of 2% year over year.

在這方面，令人鼓舞的是，我們持續看到服務時長佔授權時長的百分比正在逐步提升。我們將繼續努力，努力實現同店營業時間至少年增2%的目標。

Turning to our clinical operations. Our hospice same-store revenue increased 10% when compared to the same quarter of 2024. Our same-store average daily census increased to 3,720 for the second quarter, up from 3,477, an increase of 7% compared to the same period last year and an increase of 5.8% on a sequential basis.

談到我們的臨床營運。與2024年同期相比，我們的臨終關懷同店營收成長了10%。第二季度，我們的同店日均就診人數從3,477人增加到3,720人，較去年同期成長7%，較上季成長5.8%。

Our second quarter 2025 same-store admissions were up 2.1% year over year. For the second quarter of 2025, our hospice mean length of stay was 28 days as compared to 29 days for the first quarter of 2025. Overall, we are pleased by the continued improvement in our hospice segment over the past several quarters.

我們2025年第二季的同店入院人數較去年同期成長2.1%。 2025年第二季度，我們安寧療護的平均住院時間為28天，而2025年第一季為29天。總體而言，我們對臨終關懷業務在過去幾季的持續改善感到欣慰。

While our home health segment same-store revenue decreased 6% when compared to the same quarter of 2024, our home health profitability continues to improve as our management continues to right size our expense base. We have new leadership in our Illinois and New Mexico home health operations that are focused on returning this segment to profitable same-store revenue growth.

雖然我們的家庭健康部門同店收入與2024年同期相比下降了6%，但隨著管理層持續優化支出基數，我們的家庭健康獲利能力持續提升。伊利諾伊州和新墨西哥州的家庭健康業務迎來了新的領導團隊，他們致力於幫助該部門恢復盈利的同店收入成長。

Yesterday, we announced that on August 1, we closed on our acquisition of Helping Hands Home Care, which is based in Western Pennsylvania. This acquisition increases our personal care density in this area of Pennsylvania while also adding home health and hospice operations.

昨天，我們宣布，我們於8月1日完成了對位於賓州西部的Helping Hands Home Care的收購。此次收購增強了我們在賓州這一地區的個人護理服務密度，同時也增加了家庭健康和臨終關懷業務。

This transaction continues our strategy of developing geographic coverage in the states where we operate while adding clinical services to our network of personal care locations. Our team is excited about this acquisition, and I want to officially welcome the Helping Hands team to Addus.

此次交易延續了我們拓展業務覆蓋各州的策略，同時將臨床服務拓展至個人護理網絡。我們的團隊對此次收購感到非常興奮，我謹正式歡迎Helping Hands團隊加入Addus。

As we have with this most recent acquisition, our development team will continue to focus on both clinical and nonclinical acquisition opportunities that increase both the density and geographic coverage to our current states.

正如我們最近這次收購一樣，我們的開發團隊將繼續專注於臨床和非臨床收購機會，以增加我們目前州的密度和地理覆蓋範圍。

While the proposed home health rule will most likely continue to delay any meaningful home health opportunities, we will be evaluating smaller clinical transactions along with personal care service transactions that fit our strategy.

雖然擬議的家庭保健規則很可能會繼續推遲任何有意義的家庭保健機會，但我們將評估較小的臨床交易以及符合我們策略的個人護理服務交易。

Before I turn the call over to Brian, I want to thank the Addus team for the care they are providing to our elderly and disabled consumers and patients. We all have come to understand that the overwhelming majority of clients and patients want to receive care at home, which remains one of the safest and most cost-effective places to receive this care.

在將電話轉給Brian之前，我想感謝Addus團隊為我們的老年和殘障消費者及患者提供的優質照護。我們都明白，絕大多數客戶和患者都希望在家中接受護理，而在家中仍然是最安全、最經濟實惠的護理場所之一。

We believe the heightened awareness of the value of home-based care is favorable for our industry and will continue to be a growth opportunity for our company. We understand and appreciate that our operations and growth are dependent on both our dedicated caregivers and other employees who work so incredibly hard providing outstanding care and support to our clients, patients and their families.

我們相信，居家照護價值的認知度不斷提升，對我們產業有利，並將繼續成為我們公司的成長機會。我們理解並感激，我們的營運和發展依賴於我們敬業的護理人員和其他辛勤工作的員工，他們為我們的客戶、患者及其家人提供卓越的護理和支援。

With that, let me turn the call over to Brian.

說完這些，讓我把電話轉給布萊恩。

Thank you, Dirk, and good morning, everyone. We delivered another strong financial and operating performance in the second quarter with our results reflecting consistent organic growth and additional support from our most recent acquisition.

謝謝德克，大家早安。我們在第二季度再次實現了強勁的財務和營運業績，業績反映了持續的有機成長以及最近收購帶來的額外支持。

We achieved 21.8% revenue growth and a 24.5% increase in adjusted EBITDA compared with the second quarter last year. These results include the second full quarter of the Gentiva personal care operations, our largest acquisition to date, which we completed on December 2, 2024. Our personal care services segment was the key driver of our business with a solid 7.4% organic revenue growth rate over the same period last year.

與去年同期相比，我們的營收成長了21.8%，調整後EBITDA成長了24.5%。這些業績包括Gentiva個人護理業務的第二個完整季度業績，這是我們迄今為止最大的一筆收購，於2024年12月2日完成。我們的個人護理服務部門是我們業務的主要驅動力，與去年同期相比，有機收入實現了7.4%的穩健成長。

This growth trend has consistently tracked well above our normal expected range of 3% to 5%. These results were supported by strong hiring trends and favorable rate support for personal care services in some of our larger markets, including a statewide reimbursement increase in Illinois, our largest market, which was effective January 1, 2025.

這一成長趨勢一直遠高於我們3%至5%的正常預期範圍。這些業績得益於強勁的招聘趨勢以及我們一些較大市場對個人護理服務的優惠費率支持，其中包括我們最大的市場伊利諾伊州於2025年1月1日起生效的全州報銷額度上調。

Going forward, we expect to benefit from additional rate increases in Illinois and Texas. Both states legislatures recently finalized their fiscal 2026 state budgets, each of which included reimbursement rate increases for personal care services.

展望未來，我們預計將受益於伊利諾伊州和德克薩斯州的進一步加價。這兩個州的立法機構最近都敲定了2026財年的州預算，其中均包含提高個人護理服務的報銷率。

Illinois included a 3.9% increase, which is set to be effective January 1, 2026, and will add approximately $17.5 million in annualized revenue for Addus, with margins in the low 20% range, consistent with the state's 77% pass-through requirement.

伊利諾伊州的稅率增加了 3.9%，該稅率將於 2026 年 1 月 1 日生效，將為 Addus 增加約 1750 萬美元的年化收入，利潤率在 20% 左右，符合該州 77% 的轉嫁要求。

The state of Texas included a 9.9% increase in its fiscal 2026 budget, which is set to be effective September 1, 2025. We expect this to add approximately $17.7 million in annualized revenue for Addus with margins consistent with our existing Texas Personal Care business of just over 20%. Both rate increases are subject to customary federal approval.

德州在其2026財年預算中增加了9.9%的稅率，該稅率將於2025年9月1日生效。我們預計這將為Addus帶來約1,770萬美元的年化收入，利潤率與我們目前略高於20%的德州個人護理業務保持一致。這兩項稅率的上調均需獲得聯邦政府的常規批准。

With the acquisition of the Gentiva operations, Texas now represents our second largest state for personal care operations behind Illinois. Following the organizational changes we made late last year, we continue to see steady improvement in our hospice business in the second quarter.

收購 Gentiva 業務後，德州已成為我們個人護理業務規模第二大的州，僅次於伊利諾州。繼去年年底進行組織架構調整後，我們的臨終關懷業務在第二季度持續穩定提升。

We achieved 10% organic revenue growth and higher average daily census, patient days and revenue per patient day compared with the second quarter last year, with average daily census up 7%. As Dirk mentioned, the 2026 hospice reimbursement update of 2.6% has been finalized, and we will see this increase beginning October 1, 2025.

與去年第二季相比，我們實現了10%的有機收入成長，平均每日就診人次、就診天數和每位患者每日收入均有所提高，其中平均每日就診人次增長了7%。正如Dirk所提到的，2026年臨終關懷報銷比例2.6%的更新已最終確定，我們將從2025年10月1日起看到這一增長。

Hospice care accounted for 17.8% of our business in the second quarter. For our home health services, which accounted for 5.2% of our business, organic revenue was 6% lower compared with the second quarter of last year.

臨終關懷業務占我們第二季業務的17.8%。家庭健康服務業務占我們業務的5.2%，其有機收入較去年第二季下降了6%。

Over the past several quarters, we have seen significant improvement in our operating margin profile as we work with payers to improve our reimbursement rates and streamline our processes. While this is our smallest business segment, we believe home health is an important clinical partner to our personal care and hospice services, and we continue to look for appropriate acquisition opportunities to support this service line.

在過去幾個季度，隨著我們與付款人合作，提高報銷率並簡化流程，我們的營業利潤率狀況顯著改善。雖然這是我們規模最小的業務部門，但我們相信家庭健康是我們個人護理和臨終關懷服務的重要臨床合作夥伴，我們將繼續尋找合適的收購機會來支持這項服務。

In addition to organic growth, we have benefited from our acquired operations, and we remain focused on identifying acquisitions that will be accretive to our operations and support our ability to expand our market reach.

除了有機成長之外，我們還受益於收購的業務，並且我們仍然專注於尋找能夠增進我們業務並支持我們擴大市場範圍的能力的收購。

The Gentiva acquisition completed in December of 2024 was the largest in our history, adding approximately $280 million in annualized revenues and significantly expanding our market coverage. Yesterday, we announced the acquisition of Helping Hands Home Care, a provider of personal care, home health, and hospice services in Western Pennsylvania with annualized revenues of approximately $16.7 million.

2024年12月完成的Gentiva收購是我們歷史上規模最大的一筆收購，為公司帶來了約2.8億美元的年化收入，並顯著拓展了我們的市場覆蓋範圍。昨天，我們宣布收購Helping Hands Home Care，這是一家位於賓州西部的個人護理、家庭健康和臨終關懷服務提供商，年化收入約為1,670萬美元。

We believe this acquisition is a great fit for Addus as it expands the density of our personal care operations while also adding clinical capabilities in both hospice and home health. For the remainder of 2025, we will continue working to identify additional similar acquisitions as well as opportunities to add new personal care markets where we can enter at scale as we believe having geographic coverage and density provides us with a competitive advantage.

我們相信這項收購對 Addus 來說非常契合，因為它不僅擴大了我們個人護理業務的密度，還增強了臨終關懷和家庭健康的臨床能力。在 2025 年剩餘時間裡，我們將繼續努力尋找其他類似的收購機會，並拓展新的個人護理市場，以便我們能夠大規模進入這些市場，因為我們相信，地理覆蓋範圍和密度將為我們帶來競爭優勢。

With our size and expanding scale and the support of a strong balance sheet, we are well-positioned to execute our acquisition strategy. As Dirk noted, total net service revenues for the second quarter were $349.4 million. The revenue breakdown is as follows, personal care revenues were $269.2 million or 77% of revenue.

憑藉我們不斷擴大的規模以及強勁的資產負債表的支持，我們完全有能力執行收購策略。正如Dirk所指出的，第二季淨服務總收入為3.494億美元。收入細分如下：個人照護收入為2.692億美元，佔總收入的77%。

Hospice care revenues were $62.2 million or 17.8% of revenue, and home health revenues were $18 million or 5.2% of revenue. Other financial results for the second quarter of 2025 include the following. Our gross margin percentage was 32.6% compared with 32.5% for the second quarter of 2024.

臨終關懷收入為 6,220 萬美元，佔總收入的 17.8%，家庭保健收入為 1,800 萬美元，佔總收入的 5.2%。 2025 年第二季的其他財務表現包括：我們的毛利率為 32.6%，而 2024 年第二季為 32.5%。

As expected, we saw the normal sequential expansion in our gross margin percentage from the first quarter, primarily as a result of meeting certain payroll tax thresholds. Looking forward, we continue to expect typical seasonality with gross margin percentages remaining fairly consistent in the third quarter and some expansion in the fourth quarter due to the impact of the hospice rate increase as well as additional benefit from a reduction in payroll taxes.

如預期，我們的毛利率自第一季起環比成長，這主要得益於滿足了一定的薪資稅門檻。展望未來，我們預計毛利率將繼續呈現典型的季節性特徵，第三季將保持相對穩定，第四季度則將有所增長，這主要得益於臨終關懷費率上調以及工資稅下調帶來的額外收益。

G&A expense was 22.1% of revenue compared with 22.2% of revenue for the second quarter a year ago. Adjusted G&A expenses for the second quarter were 20%, a decrease from 20.2% in the comparable prior year quarter and a slight increase sequentially from 19.9% in the first quarter of 2025.

一般及行政管理費用佔收入的22.1%，去年同期為22.2%。第二季調整後一般及行政管理費用佔營收的20%，較去年同期的20.2%有所下降，較2025年第一季的19.9%略有較上季成長。

The company's adjusted EBITDA increased to $43.9 million compared with $35.3 million a year ago, an increase of 24.5%. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.6% compared with 12.4% for the second quarter of 2024 and an increase of 60 basis points sequentially from the first quarter of 2025.

該公司調整後的EBITDA增至4,390萬美元，去年同期為3,530萬美元，增幅為24.5%。調整後的EBITDA利潤率為12.6%，而2024年第二季為12.4%，季增2025年第一季成長60個基點。

Adjusted net income per diluted share was $1.49 compared with $1.35 for the second quarter of 2024. The adjusted per share results for the second quarter of 2025 exclude the following. Acquisition expenses of $0.11 and non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $0.18.

調整後每股攤薄淨收益為1.49美元，而2024年第二季為1.35美元。 2025年第二季調整後每股盈餘不包括以下項目：收購費用0.11美元及非現金股票薪酬費用0.18美元。

The adjusted per share results for the second quarter of 2024 excluded the following. Acquisition expenses of $0.13 and non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $0.12. Our tax rate for the second quarter of 2025 was 26.4%, within our expected range.

2024年第二季調整後每股盈餘不包括以下項目：收購費用0.13美元，非現金股票薪酬費用0.12美元。 2025年第二季的稅率為26.4%，符合我們的預期範圍。

For calendar 2025, we continue to expect our tax rate to remain in the mid-20% range. DSOs were 37.7 days at the end of the second quarter of 2025 compared with 36.9 days at the end of the first quarter of 2025. We have continued to experience consistent cash collections from the majority of our payers.

2025年，我們預計稅率仍將維持在20%左右。 2025年第二季末的應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）為37.7天，而2025年第一季末為36.9天。我們繼續從大多數納稅人持續收到現金。

Our DSOs for the Illinois Department of Aging for the second quarter were 38.8 days compared with 47.6 days at the end of the first quarter of 2025. Our net cash flow from operations was $22.5 million for the second quarter of 2025.

我們第二季為伊利諾州老齡部門提供的 DSO 為 38.8 天，而 2025 年第一季末為 47.6 天。 2025 年第二季我們的營業淨現金流為 2,250 萬美元。

As of June 30, 2025, the company had cash of $97 million with capacity and availability under our revolving credit facility of $635.6 million and $454.6 million, respectively. Total bank debt was $173 million at the end of the quarter, a reduction of $30 million from the first quarter. We have continued to reduce our revolver balance with $50 million paid through the first half of this year.

截至2025年6月30日，公司持有現金9,700萬美元，循環信貸額度下的可用額度和可用額度分別為6.356億美元和4.546億美元。本季末銀行債務總額為1.73億美元，較第一季減少3,000萬美元。我們持續減少循環信貸餘額，今年上半年已償還5,000萬美元。

Importantly, we have a capital structure that supports our ability to continue investing in our business and pursuing our strategic growth initiatives, including acquisitions. As mentioned, we will continue to selectively pursue acquisitions in 2025 that complement our organic growth and align with our strategy.

重要的是，我們擁有良好的資本結構，能夠支持我們持續投資業務並推動策略成長計劃，包括收購。如前所述，我們將在2025年繼續選擇性地進行收購，以補充我們的有機成長並符合我們的策略。

At the same time, we will maintain our disciplined capital allocation strategy and continue to diligently manage our net leverage ratio through ongoing debt reduction. This concludes our prepared comments this morning, and thank you for being with us.

同時，我們將保持嚴謹的資本配置策略，並透過持續削減債務，持續有效管理淨槓桿率。今天上午的演講到此結束，感謝各位的參與。

I'll now ask the operator to please open the line for your questions.

現在請接線員開通熱線來回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Steven Valiquette, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的史蒂文‧瓦利奎特 (Steven Valiquette)。

Hi, This is Andrew Mok from Barclays. I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks an effort to increase reimbursement from payers, but nearly all the national Medicaid payers called out HCBS home health as a pressure point to their margins in the quarter. So just curious how you're thinking about the overall reimbursement environment and how you expect this to unfold over the next few quarters? Thanks.

您好，我是巴克萊銀行的 Andrew Mok。我記得您在準備好的發言中提到過要努力提高付款人的報銷額度，但幾乎所有的全國醫療補助（Medicaid）付款人都表示，HCBS 家庭健康計劃是本季度利潤率的一個壓力點。所以，我很好奇您對整體報銷環境有何看法，以及您預計未來幾季會如何發展？謝謝。

Yeah, Andrew, I think we've continued to see pretty strong support over the last couple of years from most of our larger markets. I think coming out of COVID, I think we would have expected probably the cadence of rate increases in personal care to mitigate some.

是的，安德魯，我認為在過去幾年裡，我們大多數較大的市場都持續提供了相當強勁的支持。我認為，在新冠疫情結束後，我們本以為個人護理行業費率的上漲節奏可能會有所緩解。

We've actually been pleasantly surprised to see states really appreciate the value our services provide and give us rate increases, not in response to minimum wage, but in conjunction with trying to increase caregiver wages to provide access to service.

事實上，我們很高興地看到各州真正欣賞我們服務的價值，並提高我們的費率，這並不是為了滿足最低工資標準，而是為了提高護理人員的工資，以提供服務。

So seeing Illinois and Texas, but through new rate increases in their budgets this year. There were a couple of our larger states that were considering rate increases that tabled those conversations for the moment with some of the overhang from the reconciliation bill still not finalized at the time.

因此，伊利諾伊州和德克薩斯州今年的預算中將再次上調稅率。我們有幾個較大的州正在考慮上調稅率，但由於當時和解法案的部分懸而未決的問題尚未最終確定，因此暫時擱置了這些討論。

So we are optimistic maybe we'll see something from them in the next cycle. But I think longer term, I think our comments continue to be pretty consistent that we would expect the cadence to probably mitigate some over the next couple of years, probably not see the same rate, but we think there's a real value in our services and states are appreciating that.

因此，我們樂觀地認為，或許在下一個週期中，我們會看到他們有所作為。但我認為，從長期來看，我們的評論仍然相當一致，我們預計未來幾年疫情的節奏可能會有所減緩，可能不會保持同樣的速度，但我們認為我們的服務確實有價值，各州也對此表示讚賞。

Great. And then maybe just a follow-up on volumes. Same-store revenue was strong in the quarter, but the same-store census looked like it was down about 5% or so, which implies very strong rate. Can you elaborate on what's driving the negative volumes on a negative comp in the second quarter? Are you seeing a reacceleration and redeterminations or anything of that nature? Thanks.

好的。接下來我想問銷售量。本季同店營收強勁，但同店銷售額普查數據似乎下降了5%左右，這意味著銷售額成長非常強勁。您能否詳細說明一下，是什麼原因導致第二季同店銷售額下降，而同店銷售額卻下降？您是否看到了銷售額再次加速、重新評估或類似情況？謝謝。

Yeah, we aren't. I mean what you're seeing is that the 5.5%, that's actually inclusive of New York, which we've disposed of. So that is why the comparison kind of isn't really apples-to-apples. If you look at where we are today, you actually saw a sequential increase in same-store census between Q1 and Q2. So it's moving in the right direction.

是的，我們並沒有。我的意思是，你看到的5.5%其實是包含紐約的，而我們已經把紐約的銷售額剔除了。所以，這種比較其實並不具有可比性。如果你看看我們目前的狀況，你會發現第一季和第二季的同店銷售額實際上較上季成長。所以，我們正朝著正確的方向發展。

So just to be clear, do you continue to report New York in the same-store numbers?

所以要先明確的是，你們是否會繼續在同店銷售中報告紐約的情況？

It's included, Andrew, in our prior year number. It's not in this year. I think next month, we'll -- or next quarter, I'm sorry, we'll spike that out, so it's a little more clear. I think it's not a closed location. So it's in our existing legacy operations, but we'll spike that out going forward in Q3.

安德魯，這已經包含在我們去年的數據裡了。今年沒有。我想下個月，或者下個季度，抱歉，我們會把這個數字加進去，這樣會更清楚一些。我認為這不是一個關閉的地點。所以它在我們現有的傳統營運中，但我們會在第三季把它加進去。

Great. Thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Matthew Gillmor, KeyBanc.

馬修‧吉爾摩 (Matthew Gillmor)，KeyBanc。

Hey, thanks for the question. I wanted to circle back on the personal care hiring and labor comments. Dirk had mentioned some favorability with trends and the press release also spoke to systems and tools that have been rolled out. Can you talk about where you are with that rollout? I think maybe that started in Illinois, but just where you are in that journey, how that's impacting performance? And if you had any comments on retention, that would be great.

嘿，謝謝你的提問。我想回到個人護理招募和勞動力方面的問題。 Dirk 提到了一些對趨勢的讚賞，新聞稿也提到了已經推出的系統和工具。能談談這些系統的推出進度嗎？我想可能是從伊利諾州開始的，但目前你們處於哪個階段？這對績效有何影響？如果你對員工留任有什麼看法，那就太好了。

Yeah. On the -- so we've rolled out our caregiver application, I think, is what you're referring to. And that doesn't necessarily impact the hiring numbers. The hiring numbers come to actually kind of a different system.

是的。關於…我想，您指的是我們推出了護理人員申請。這並不一定會影響招募人數。招聘人數實際上是根據不同的系統得出的。

But what the caregiver app does is it helps us with our fill rate and increasing fill rates by giving caregivers greater visibility into their schedules, also the ability for a caregiver to flex their schedule if there looks like they're going to underserve a client during the month.

但是，護理人員應用程式的作用是幫助我們提高填充率，透過讓護理人員更好地了解他們的日程安排來提高填充率，同時如果護理人員在本月無法為客戶提供足夠的服務，他們還可以靈活安排自己的日程安排。

So we've gotten really good adoption in Illinois. I think we've got about 90% of our caregivers that are registered on the caregiver application. We are in the process of rolling it out in New Mexico. So -- and as soon as we get New Mexico up and running good, we'll look at other states where we have an opportunity to implement the application.

我們在伊利諾州的採用率非常高。我認為大約90%的護理人員都註冊了護理人員應用程式。我們正在新墨西哥州推廣這項服務。一旦新墨西哥州運作良好，我們就會考慮在其他有機會推廣這項服務的州推廣。

The challenge is being -- when you talk Medicaid, the application has to be customized for every state that you roll it out to. So we've selected Illinois, our largest market, New Mexico, third largest market. We'll probably look at Texas down the road as a place to also implement that. We're seeing good adoption by caregivers.

挑戰在於——說到醫療補助（Medicaid），應用程式必須根據每個州進行客製化。所以我們選擇了伊利諾州，我們最大的市場，新墨西哥州，第三大市場。我們以後可能會考慮在德克薩斯州也實施這項計劃。我們看到護理人員對此的接受度很高。

Got it. And Brad, just as a follow-up to that. Do you find that, that improves your retention because then the folks can get as many hours as they want or more hours than they otherwise would be able to?

明白了。布拉德，我再問一下。你覺得這樣做能提高員工留任率嗎？因為這樣員工就能獲得他們想要的盡可能多的工作時間，或是比他們原本能獲得的更多時間。

We think it will. I mean I think it's a little too early to tell for sure because there's just so many other factors that go into retention, just looking at kind of overall economy and that sort of thing. But when we've done -- conducted surveys of caregivers, one of the reasons why they talk about leaving is because they're not getting enough hours.

我們認為會的。我的意思是，我認為現在下結論還為時過早，因為影響護理人員留任的因素還有很多，例如整體經濟狀況等等。但我們曾對護理人員進行調查，發現他們考慮離職的原因之一是工作時間不夠。

So intuitively, we think it will help in the long run with turnover. It's just hard to kind of isolate it and give you kind of an update today. I think over the next year, 1.5 years, we should be able to glean from the data whether this is making an impact. But just looking at the surveys that we've conducted, clearly, hours are a big thing. And so this certainly helps address part of that challenge.

所以直覺上，我們認為從長遠來看，這將有助於提高員工流動率。只是很難單獨列出來，今天就提供給大家最新資訊。我認為在未來一年或一年半的時間裡，我們應該能夠從數據中了解這是否真的產生了影響。但從我們所進行的調查來看，工時顯然是個重要因素。所以這無疑有助於應對部分挑戰。

Okay. I'll go ahead and leave it there. Thanks, guys.

好的。我先說到這裡。謝謝大家。

Jared Haase, William Blair.

賈里德·哈斯、威廉·布萊爾。

Hey guys, good morning and thanks for taking the questions. Maybe I'll ask another one around labor, but a bigger picture question. I'm curious how you're thinking about immigration policy changes and the impact that, that could have on the home care workforce over the next couple of years.

大家好，早安，感謝你們回答問題。也許我會再問一個關於勞工的問題，但這是一個更宏觀的問題。我很好奇你們如何看待移民政策的變化，以及這些變化在未來幾年可能對家庭照顧者產生的影響。

Obviously, been a lot of media coverage about kind of the prevalence of immigrants in the healthcare workforce and especially in home and community-based settings. So just curious to hear your perspective and how you're thinking about that over the next couple of years.

顯然，媒體已經大量報導了移民在醫療工作者中的普遍性，尤其是在家庭和社區環境中。我很想知道您對此的看法，以及您對未來幾年這一問題的看法。

Yeah. I mean right now, we're not seeing any impact from it. We don't have a large workforce that is kind of green card or work eligible. I think we -- roughly about 600 caregivers out of our workforce of 50,000. So it's a pretty small number for us.

是的。我的意思是，目前我們還沒有看到任何影響。我們並沒有大量持有綠卡或符合工作資格的員工。我認為，在我們5萬名員工中，大約只有600名護理人員。所以這對我們來說是一個相當小的數字。

We haven't seen any instances where they're not getting those renewed. Now I will say, I mean, long term, it could make it more competitive if you have a smaller workforce or a pool of employees that you're trying to pull from or candidates that you're trying to pull from.

我們還沒有看到任何他們不續約的情況。現在我想說的是，從長遠來看，如果你的員工隊伍規模較小，或者你試圖從中招募員工或候選人的人才庫中招募人才，這可能會讓你的競爭力更強。

But we're not seeing any impact right now, certainly not seeing it in the hiring numbers. And again, we don't have a large workforce that is susceptible to those challenges.

但我們目前還沒有看到任何影響，尤其是在招募數量上。而且，我們並沒有大量勞動力容易受到這些挑戰的影響。

Okay. Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe I'll double-click on the hospice segment and nice to see another good quarter of about 10% same-store growth. Is that the right level of organic growth we should look for going forward?

好的。明白了。這很有幫助。然後我再看看臨終關懷部門，很高興看到另一個季度的同店銷售額成長約10%。這是我們未來應該追求的合適的有機成長水平嗎？

Obviously, got the final rate rule for 2026, which I know you mentioned is maybe a little bit disappointing relative to cost trends. But just curious how you level set sort of the right way that we should be thinking about same-store growth for hospice going forward?

顯然，我們已經獲得了2026年的最終費率規則，我知道您提到，相對於成本趨勢而言，這可能有點令人失望。但我好奇的是，您如何設定一個正確的標準，讓我們思考未來臨終關懷的同店成長？

Yeah. We've talked about long term. I mean, I think it's really probably more in the 5% to 7% range when you factor in rate plus the volume increase over. I think hospice is doing very well. I think some of it is coming out of COVID, I think the industry has rebounded. But then also, we made some additions on the operations and the sales side that I think have really helped drive same-store growth for us. But I think long-term, more in the 5% to 7% range.

是的。我們討論的是長期成長。我的意思是，如果把費率加上業務量的成長考慮在內，我認為實際成長可能在5%到7%之間。我認為臨終關懷產業目前發展得很好。我認為部分原因是新冠疫情的影響，我認為這個產業已經反彈。此外，我們在營運和銷售方面也做了一些調整，我認為這確實有助於推動我們的同店成長。但我認為長期來看，成長幅度應該在5%到7%之間。

Okay. Great. Thanks for all the color.

好的。太好了。謝謝你的精彩分享。

Raj Kumar, Stephens.

拉吉·庫馬爾，史蒂芬斯。

Hey guys, thanks for the question. I just have one on the kind of follow-up on the labor piece. It seems like there's like a provision there from the Department of Labor or rule just kind of maybe carving out companionship services out of like the federal minimum wage and overtime provisions, which on the min wage front, kind of relevant.

嘿，大家好，謝謝你的提問。我只是想問一下關於勞工方面的後續問題。勞工部似乎有一項規定或規則，可能將陪伴服務從聯邦最低工資和加班費規定中剔除，這在最低工資方面比較相關。

But thinking about overtime and how you've talked about scheduling being the most prevalent piece of turnover as caregivers aren't getting the hours that they need. Maybe just kind of thoughts on that provision and maybe if any states are moving towards creating their own versions of overtime provisions based on this proposed rule.

但考慮到加班，以及您提到的排班是最常見的人員流失原因，因為護理人員沒有獲得所需的工作時間。或許您可以談談對這項規定的看法，以及是否有州正在根據這項擬議規則制定自己的加班規定。

Yeah. I haven't seen anything moving on the -- at the state level yet. It is an interesting proposal. If you think about impact on us, there's some nuances in that rule that would make it a little challenging to implement across our services because some of the services we provide wouldn't qualify for that exemption. So it becomes a little challenging.

是的。我還沒有看到州一級有任何進展。這是一個有趣的提議。如果你考慮一下對我們的影響，這條規則有一些細微之處，這會為我們在服務範圍內實施帶來一些挑戰，因為我們提供的某些服務不符合豁免條件。所以這有點挑戰性。

And plus we have collective bargaining agreements for a sizable portion of our workforce that would cover overtime rules anyway. Now where it could have some potential is more on the private pay side of the business. It's much smaller business for us.

而且，我們與相當一部分員工簽訂了集體談判協議，這些協議本身就涵蓋了加班規定。現在，這項技術可能在私人薪酬方面發揮更大的潛力。對我們來說，這部分業務規模要小得多。

We'll certainly keep an eye on it. And it's interesting to kind of read through it and get some guidance on how that would actually work. But I think minimal impact for us, except maybe a little bit on the private pay side.

我們當然會密切關注。仔細閱讀這份報告，了解一下具體如何運作，這挺有趣的。但我認為，除了私人支付方面可能有點影響外，它對我們的影響微乎其微。

Got it. And then just on the hospice portion, I know some of your peers have called out cap issues. Maybe if Addus saw any of that in the quarter. And then another on the policy front, it seems like with the Big Beautiful Bill and like the increase in federal deficit, there might be an automatic trigger to the sequestration to increase.

明白了。然後就臨終關懷部分而言，我知道您的一些同事已經提到了上限問題。如果Addus在本季看到了這些問題，或許可以考慮一下。然後是政策方面，似乎《美麗大法案》和聯邦赤字的增加，可能會自動觸發自動減赤的增加。

And I guess for that to be waived, there need to be like a Senate vote on that. Maybe any movement on that part, not have the sequestration go from like 2% to 6% based on that automatic trigger?

我想，要免除這項措施，參議院需要對此進行投票。或許可以就此做出任何改變，而不是根據自動觸發機制，將自動減支比例從2%提高到6%？

I'll start with the cap. So on the cap, having a balanced link referral base is important. We do have a little bit of cap that we booked this quarter, a little over $1 million. But that's kind of part and parcel. I mean we also have -- if you think about it, we have opportunities, one, to look at changing our -- improving our referral mix in a couple of programs to get out of cap, but certainly manageable.

我先從上限說起。關於上限，擁有一個平衡的連結推薦基礎非常重要。我們本季確實有一些上限，略高於100萬美元。但這對我們來說至關重要。我的意思是，如果你仔細想想，我們也有機會，首先，我們可以考慮改變——改進我們幾個項目中的推薦組合，以突破上限，但這肯定是可以控制的。

We also have opportunity in other programs that we have a very short length of stay, and we need to diversify our referral base to get some longer stay patients to kind of balance that out.

在其他項目中，我們也有機會獲得住院時間非常短的患者，我們需要使我們的轉診基礎多樣化，以獲得一些住院時間較長的患者來平衡這一點。

So really, when you think about cap, it's been around forever since the benefit was implemented. I think where it's running into some challenges right now is there's a little bit of a disconnect between the wage index and cap.

所以，說到薪資上限，其實自從這項福利實施以來，它就一直存在。我認為目前它面臨的一些挑戰是薪資指數和薪資上限之間存在一些脫節。

And so it's not wage index for individual markets. I don't know if I really want CMS to do that, frankly, because I'm not sure how that would work for rural providers, but it's certainly manageable for us. And then on the sequestration front, I'll let Dirk.

所以這不是針對單一市場的薪資指數。坦白說，我不確定我是否真的希望醫療保險和醫療補助服務中心（CMS）這樣做，因為我不確定這對農村地區的醫療服務提供者來說會如何運作，但這對我們來說肯定是可控的。然後，關於自動減支，我會讓德克來決定。

Yeah. I think, look, sequestration, we expect Congress to handle this like they have in the past. The Trump administration has been very clear that they're not going to cut Medicare. This would obviously be a cut to Medicare. So our thinking is and what we've been hearing is it will be addressed in time. So that's kind of our thinking today.

是的。我認為，就自動減支而言，我們預期國會會像過去那樣處理這個問題。川普政府已經非常明確地表示，他們不會削減醫療保險。這顯然會削減醫療保險。所以我們的想法是，而且我們聽到的也是，這個問題會及時解決。這就是我們今天的想法。

Got it. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

Brian Tanquilut, Jefferies.

布萊恩·坦奎魯特（Brian Tanquilut），傑富瑞集團。

Hey, good morning, guys. Congrats on the quarter. Maybe, Brian, as I think about your original commentary at the beginning of the year, you're expecting EBITDA margins about 12% for 2025. Just curious how you're thinking about that now given this acquisition coming in and then the Texas rate increase that kicks in on September 1.

大家早安！恭喜本季業績。布萊恩，我想到你年初最初的評論，你預計2025年的EBITDA利潤率約為12%。考慮到即將進行的收購以及9月1日德克薩斯州的加息，我很好奇你現在對此有何看法。

Yeah. I think our expectation for margins, Brian, for the rest of this year are still pretty consistent. So starting in Q1 at over 12%, obviously, saw the normal kind of expansion into Q2. We'd expect to remain pretty static in Q3 and then see additional expansion at the end of the year. So I think for the full year, I think we're still going to be squarely between 12% and 13%.

是的。布萊恩，我認為我們對今年剩餘時間利潤率的預期仍然相當一致。從第一季開始，利潤率超過12%，顯然在第二季實現了正常的擴張。我們預計第三季利潤率將保持穩定，然後在年底進一步擴張。所以我認為全年利潤率仍將在12%到13%之間。

I think the Texas rate increase coming in at kind of just right just above 20% margin, probably is not going to move the needle much. The new acquisition is about 84% personal care in Pennsylvania, a little bit of clinical.

我認為德州的費率上調幅度略高於20%，可能不會對市場產生太大影響。新收購的賓州約84%是個人護理，略微涉及臨床護理。

So that's not enough really to kind of probably move the needle up much, but it will be nice to have those abilities to do those services to PA, but probably still pretty consistent with our prior commentary for the rest of this year right now.

因此，這可能還不足以真正推動情況的進一步發展，但如果能夠有能力為 PA 提供這些服務就太好了，但這可能仍然與我們之前對今年剩餘時間的評論非常一致。

Got it. Okay. Thank you.

明白了。好的。謝謝。

Ryan Langston, TD Cowen.

瑞安·蘭斯頓 (Ryan Langston)，TD Cowen。

Thanks. Maybe related to Matt's question. It sounds like hires per business day continues to run pretty strong. But Dirk, I think I heard you say clinical hiring is going to be more challenging. Is that just sort of a tight labor market dynamic or changes in competitor behavior or anything else you'd call out there?

謝謝。這可能和馬特的問題有關。聽起來每個工作日的招募人數仍然相當強勁。但是德克，我記得你說過臨床招募會更具挑戰性。這只是因為勞動市場緊張，還是競爭對手行為的變化，或是其他什麼原因？

No. I mean, this is Brad. I think really, it's just not enough nurses out there. It's more a challenge in certain markets. So I think it's just going to be long term, just more competitive. Right now, it's not putting any type of pressure on being able to accept patients or volumes or anything like that. I just think that, that's going to be a little more challenging certainly than our personal care side.

不，我是說，我是布萊德。我覺得真的，護士人手不夠。在某些市場，這更是個挑戰。所以我認為這會是長期的，競爭會更激烈。目前，它還沒有在接收病人、數量等方面施加任何壓力。我只是覺得，這肯定會比我們個人護理方面更具挑戰性。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Constantine Davides, Citizens.

康斯坦丁大衛斯，公民。

Hey guys. Just last quarter, I think you talked about some larger clinical assets coming to market. Just wondering if you can talk about that part of your M&A pipeline. And should we expect more transactions along the lines of what you're doing in Pennsylvania? Or are there some larger assets out there we could see some movement on? Thank you.

大家好。就在上個季度，我記得您提到了一些大型臨床資產即將上市。能否談談您這方面的併購計畫？我們是否應該期待更多類似您在賓州進行的交易？或者，是否有一些大型資產值得關注？謝謝。

Well, I think when we were talking about there could be some larger ones, there were some talk about some hospice opportunities coming out. We have heard some of those are still looking at it. I understand that maybe the multiples have come in just a bit on those than maybe what people were expecting from last year.

嗯，我想，當我們談到可能會有一些更大規模的機構時，有人談到了一些即將出現的臨終關懷機會。我們聽說其中一些機構仍在考慮。我知道，這些機構的新增病例數可能比人們去年的預期略高一些。

So again, we haven't been a main player in the hospice market for the last two or three years just because of that very high valuation expectation most of them had. Our focus has been more on the larger personal care, which we saw with Gentiva.

所以，再說一遍，在過去兩三年裡，我們一直沒能成為臨終關懷市場的主要參與者，只是因為大多數公司對估值的預期過高。我們的重點更多地放在了更大規模的個人護理上，Gentiva 就是一個例子。

And then even the home health. Right now, some of the things that we're hearing is with this potential 6.4% reduction, which we all believe should be somewhat moderated by the -- when the final rule comes out. But even so, this is a change, and this is an unknown that I think has caused some of the players that might have been looking to come out and see what might be out there from a standpoint of acquisition opportunities. I think it's probably delayed some of those folks coming out.

然後是家庭健康領域。目前，我們聽到的一些消息是，可能會降低6.4%，我們都認為最終規則出台後，降幅應該會有所緩和。但即便如此，這仍然是一個變化，這是一個未知數，我認為它已經導致一些原本打算從收購機會的角度來觀察市場的參與者。我認為這可能推遲了其中一些人的出場。

So really, from our standpoint, we're going to be very focused on somewhat what you saw with our most recent Helping Hands acquisition, finding markets where it strengthens our personal care markets, can add some clinical services, smaller deals that probably are not as much affected by this potential rate reduction in home health or potentially even what you may be seeing valuations with hospice.

因此，從我們的角度來看，我們將非常關注您最近在我們收購 Helping Hands 時所看到的情況，尋找可以加強我們個人護理市場的市場，可以增加一些臨床服務，較小的交易可能不會受到家庭保健潛在費率降低的影響，甚至可能不受臨終關懷估值的影響。

Great. And then if I could just sneak one more in. Any other states that you're monitoring with the potential for a favorable rate movement in the next 12 to 18 months?

太好了。然後我可以再偷偷問一句嗎？您關注的其他州在未來12到18個月內，還有哪些州的利率有可能出現有利的變動？

Yeah. I think, Constantine, a couple that we referenced earlier that we're considering rate increases this year ended up holding kind of steady and maybe look to next year are New Mexico and Pennsylvania, I think, were two that we were watching pretty closely this year. Both had conversations.

是的。康斯坦丁，我們之前提到的幾個州，我們今年考慮升息，但最終還是保持了穩定，或許明年會考慮升息。新墨西哥州和賓州是我們今年密切關注的兩個州。這兩個州都進行了討論。

Again, no guarantee that we'll see something next year, but potential for maybe both of those next year. So I think the Pennsylvania acquisition we just did would fit in nicely if we got something from them next year, but we'll keep monitoring the states and see maybe what some chatter is going into the next budget cycle next year.

再說一次，我們無法保證明年一定能看到進展，但明年或許兩者都有可能。所以我認為，如果明年我們能從賓州獲得一些進展，我們剛完成的收購會很合適，但我們會繼續關注各州的情況，看看明年下一個預算週期會有哪些討論。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Ransom, Raymond James.

約翰·蘭塞姆、雷蒙·詹姆斯。

Good morning. Just a couple for me. Dirk, first of all, what are your public advocacy priorities now? And other than obviously, the home health final rule, what are some of the things that you and your government affairs folks are working on either at the state level or the federal level that we should keep an eye on?

早安.我只想問幾個問題。德克，首先，您目前的公共倡議重點是什麼？除了顯而易見的家庭健康最終規則之外，您和您的政府事務部門在州一級或聯邦一級正在進行哪些值得我們關注的工作？

And then secondly, just to kind of go into the question about payer contracting. Have the contracts gotten any more, I guess, the word interesting in terms of some kickers and some value-based? Or is it still kind of very much the traditional structure that you've always had? Thanks.

其次，我想談談關於付款人合約的問題。我想，現在的合約模式，像是附加條款和基於價值的條款，現在有沒有變得更有意思一些？還是說，它仍然是你們一直以來的傳統模式？謝謝。

I'll talk about the public advocacy. What's really interesting, if you look at our three segments of care, we've been very consistent over the last number of years with our state advocacy. We've had great success. We have good relationships with most of the -- really all the states in which we operate.

我來談談公共倡議。真正有趣的是，如果你看看我們三個醫療服務部門，你會發現過去幾年裡，我們一直非常堅持地倡導州政府的政策。我們取得了巨大的成功。我們與大多數——實際上是所有我們開展業務的州都保持著良好的關係。

And I think we've been able, along with others in the industry to continue to discuss the value proposition of the personal care service as it relates to maybe some facility-based care. And so we've had great success. You saw that with Illinois. You saw that with Texas. Brian mentioned a couple of other states that we're working with. So we're pretty comfortable with our state advocacy.

我認為，我們能夠與業內其他同行繼續探討個人護理服務的價值主張，因為它可能與某些機構內護理相關。因此，我們取得了巨大的成功。您在伊利諾伊州看到了這一點。您在德克薩斯州也看到了這一點。布萊恩還提到了我們正在合作的其他幾個州。因此，我們對我們州級的倡導工作非常滿意。

We started about, I don't know, two or three years ago really with some federal advocacy, especially as we were getting more 20%-plus in clinical services. And as you would probably expect right now, the majority, if not all, of our efforts on the clinical side are in home health.

我們大約在兩三年前就開始尋求聯邦政府的協助，尤其是在我們獲得20%以上的臨床服務份額之後。正如你現在可能預料到的，我們在臨床方面的努力，即使不是全部，也主要集中在家庭保健方面。

I think this most recent proposed rate reduction, the industry and the alliance, which we work with, we all have concerns about the way that was calculated, the need for any kind of clawback over the last four years since the pandemic.

我認為，對於最近提出的降息方案，與我們合作的行業和聯盟，我們都對降息的計算方式感到擔憂，也對自疫情爆發以來過去四年中任何形式的追回措施的必要性感到擔憂。

So certainly, from our standpoint, we're doing a lot with the industry trying to get our story out to those that matter in the administration, telling them about the real effect we can have on cost in the home health segment. So really, that's what we've been focused on, on the federal side.

所以，從我們的角度來看，我們確實在與業界進行了大量合作，試圖將我們的故事傳達給政府中的重要人物，告訴他們我們能夠對家庭保健領域的成本產生真正的影響。所以，從聯邦政府的角度來看，這才是我們一直以來的重點。

And there's a lot going on, but I wish I could tell you we had some information today that would possibly help us with the final rule. But right now, it's still very deep into working with trying to get that changed.

還有很多事情要做，但我希望今天能告訴大家，我們掌握了一些訊息，或許能幫助我們制定最終規則。但目前，我們仍在深入研究，並努力改變現狀。

Yeah. And I'll talk about the payer contracting. In the personal care side, we're still having the discussions on the value-based. The structure is largely similar to what we've been doing in the past. I will say that the nuance is we're now talking to the payers and the payers are talking to us about how do we get more volume into those plans and into those arrangements because we have been able to show that we can address the overall cost of care through those arrangements.

是的。我會談談付款人合約。在個人護理方面，我們仍在討論基於價值的合約。其結構與我們過去的做法大致相同。我想說的是，細微之處是，我們現在正在與付款人溝通，付款人也在與我們討論如何讓更多患者加入這些計劃和安排，因為我們已經證明，我們可以透過這些安排解決整體護理成本問題。

So I would say that's probably the kind of the newer discussions now is just how do you drive volume into those plans or into those arrangements. On the home health side, we continue to talk to payers about implementing a case rate or an episodic type payment, have had a couple of wins there and continue to have positive discussions on that front.

所以我想說，現在比較新的討論可能是如何提高這些計劃或安排的覆蓋率。在家庭健康方面，我們繼續與付款方討論實施按病例費率或分期付款，目前已經取得了一些進展，並且在這方面的討論仍在繼續。

Great. Thanks so much.

太好了。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Joanna Gajuk, Bank of America.

美國銀行的喬安娜‧加朱克 (Joanna Gajuk)。

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. So maybe if I may, just follow up on the commentary around the acquisition you just announced today. Can you give us -- you gave the breakdown on the revenues. Any comment you can provide us in terms of the margins? Is it sort of comparable to your PCS business? And also, I guess, is Pennsylvania a good market for personal care? That's the reason why you are kind of adding on in that market?

大家好，早安。感謝您回答這個問題。請問您今天宣布的收購事宜，能否​​跟進一下。能否提供一下收入的明細？關於利潤率，您能提供一些評論嗎？這和你們的PCS業務有可比性嗎？另外，賓州是個人護理產品的理想市場嗎？所以你們才在這個市場加大投入？

Hey, Joanna, I'll talk about the margin profile real quick. I'll let Brad talk about just Pennsylvania market. But it should be pretty comparable to our personal care business. But obviously, this being a smaller acquisition, we're not going to have to add much in the way of anything really on the kind of thinking about corporate and back office type.

嘿，喬安娜，我來快速談談利潤率狀況。布拉德就先說說賓州市場的情況吧。不過，它應該和我們的個人護理業務相當。不過顯然，這是一筆規模較小的收購，我們不需要增加太多關於公司和後台業務的投資。

So it's going to be probably more 13%, 14% EBITDA margins. Gross margins will be consistent with our business there, but should be somewhere in that range. So I'll let Brad talk a little bit about just the Pennsylvania market.

所以EBITDA利潤率可能會在13%到14%之間。毛利率會與我們在那裡的業務保持一致，但應該會在這個範圍內。所以我讓布萊德簡單談談賓州市場的情況。

Yeah. I think when you look at the Pennsylvania market, really where this asset is located, Western Pennsylvania, we like that area. It's not quite as competitive as maybe a Philadelphia and one of the really urban markets.

是的。我覺得看看賓州市場，尤其是這筆資產所在的賓州西部，我們看好那裡。那裡的競爭可能不像費城那麼激烈，而且是真正的城市市場之一。

So I feel good about the personal care business here, interested to kind of look at the home health and the hospice opportunity that we have there. It certainly is complementary a little bit to our Ohio hospice operations.

我對這裡的個人護理業務很滿意，也對我們在那裡的家庭健康和臨終關懷業務很感興趣。這無疑與我們在俄亥俄州的臨終關懷業務有一定互補性。

So excited to see what we can do there. Also, when you look at Pennsylvania, I think Brian alluded to that, that is a state that we're looking at possibly some rate increases. They did a wage study. They were pretty far along in this past legislative session, looking like they were going to do something rate-wise on personal care.

非常期待看到我們能在那裡取得的進展。另外，說到賓州，我想布萊恩也提到過，我們正在考慮提高州的費率。他們做了一項工資研究。在上屆立法會議上，他們已經取得了很大進展，看起來他們將在個人護理費率方面採取一些措施。

But because of some of the budget uncertainty around the Medicaid cuts that have not been finalized, they backed off of that. But we think there's an opportunity in next year or certainly in the next few years to be able to get some additional rate from the states in Pennsylvania.

但由於醫療補助削減方案尚未最終敲定，預算方面存在一些不確定性，他們放棄了這項計畫。但我們認為，明年，或者肯定是未來幾年，賓州有機會從各州獲得一些額外的補助。

Okay. Thanks for that. And I guess it's tied to your last commentary around the rate increases because my question is around just, I guess, the policy changes that are coming under the reconciliation bill. So clearly, personal care is not targeted for cuts, right? But there are cuts to enrolment in Medicaid to the different provisions, their rate. And so that highly likely puts pressure on state budgets, right?

好的，謝謝。我想這和你上次關於費率上漲的評論有關，因為我的問題是關於和解法案下即將發生的政策變化。所以很明顯，個人護理不在削減範圍之內，對吧？但是，醫療補助（Medicaid）不同條款的投保人數和費率都有所削減。這很可能會給州預算帶來壓力，對吧？

So can you maybe talk about how you're thinking about how this might play out and impact personal care business? Because I guess maybe talk about the prior cycles of budget pressure. It seems like some states did reduce personal care spending since this is a voluntary service.

那麼，您能否談談您認為這可能會如何影響個人護理業務？我想，或許可以談談之前幾輪預算壓力。由於這是一項自願服務，一些州似乎確實削減了個人護理支出。

So how do you expect states to respond to budget pressure this time around? And would it be different, I guess, versus, say, 2008, 2009? Thank you.

那麼，您認為各州這次會如何應對預算壓力？與2008年、2009年相比，會有什麼不同嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. I think, I mean, if you look at the impact on budgets, keep in mind, a lot of these provisions don't come into play until 2028. So we're several years away from seeing those actual cuts impact state budgets. I think we feel good about the services we provide, primarily services to an elderly and disabled population. Politically, that's a tough population to cut.

是的。我想，我的意思是，如果你看看對預算的影響，請記住，很多這些條款要到2028年才會生效。所以我們還要幾年時間才能看到這些實際的削減對州預算的影響。我認為我們對我們提供的服務感到滿意，主要是針對老年人和殘疾人群體的服務。從政治角度來看，削減這些群體的支出是比較困難的。

We haven't really seen states do that in the past, where states have -- we had a couple of states that years ago tried to implement some rate cuts pretty modest. Those didn't stick. They quickly came back and adjusted those rates back up.

我們過去很少看到各州這樣做。幾年前，有幾個州嘗試過小幅降息。但這些措施並沒有奏效。他們很快又調整了利率，使其恢復正常。

So I think in the near term, over the next couple of years, you think about there's not going to be a lot of impact -- negative impact on the state budgets. Come 2028, there could be some, but I do think we're in a favorable position by the nature of the population we serve and the fact that I think we've established pretty well that it's more expensive to take care of these individuals in an institutional setting.

所以我認為在短期內，也就是未來幾年，你認為這不會對州預算產生太大的影響——負面影響。到2028年，可能會有一些影響，但我確實認為，考慮到我們服務人群的性質，以及我認為我們已經相當確定的事實，在機構環境中照顧這些人的成本更高，我們處於有利地位。

And there's a lot of research and data analysis out there to that effect. So cutting access to our services actually could exacerbate state budget pressures.

目前已經有大量研究和數據分析顯示了這一點。因此，削減我們的服務實際上可能會加劇州預算壓力。

Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the question.

謝謝。非常感謝您回答這個問題。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dirk Allison for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在請德克·艾利森致閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator. I want to thank each of you for taking time to join us today on our earnings call and hope that you all have a great week. Thank you.

謝謝接線生。感謝各位今天抽空參加我們的財報電話會議，祝福大家有個愉快的一週。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您可以斷開連線了。