Health Policy and Economics

Medicare Advantage SNF Denials = High

Medicare Advantage SNF denials are frequently reversed on appeal while plans shrink coverage. The dual squeeze hits skilled nursing census and revenue. This is part II of a three-part series. Part I is here: https://rhislop3.com/medicare-advantage-regional-pullbacks/…

Health Policy and Economics

PE Owned Quorum Health Going Non-Profit

  Is the Quorum Health nonprofit transition a private equity exit dressed as philanthropy, shifting debt onto hospitals and taxpayers?…by Reginald Hislop, III Private equity never has to answer for the exits it structures. That…

Health Policy and Economics

Medicare Advantage Regional Pullbacks

  Medicare Advantage plan exits 2026 are shrinking rural coverage, with UnitedHealthcare and Humana leaving more counties than they enter, impacting patients…by Reginald Hislop, III Over the past several years the Medicare Advantage story has…

Health Policy and Economics

Wednesday Feature: Fraud Recap

Recent healthcare billing fraud cases show similar conduct moving across bill coding, DME, telemedicine, and product billing. Read the provider-level analysis….by Reginald Hislop, III Earlier this week I wrote about CMS barring eleven medical…

Health Policy and Economics

CMS Cracks Down on $3.4B DME Fraud

  CMS announced a $3.4 billion medical equipment supplier fraud scheme involving 11 suppliers and claims for deceased beneficiaries. Here is what it means….by Reginald Hislop III On September 8, 2026, CMS announced that it…

Life Plan/CCRC

Life Plan Financial Health: Status and Outlook

Senior living is a long-duration business. A resident who moves into a Life Plan or CCRC community at the start of retirement may remain on the same campus for a decade or more, receiving everything…

Health Policy and Economics

Senior Living Pressure: Rising Rates & Yields

Interest rates on government bonds worldwide are rising fast. Rising rates and rising bond yields do not stay inside the financial pages. They create ripple effects through mortgage rates, auto loans, and the loans that…

Health Policy and Economics

Medicare Advantage Fraud: Villages and Kaiser

Medicare Advantage plans are paid through risk adjustment. The government sends each plan a fixed monthly amount per enrollee, and that amount rises when the enrollee’s record contains certain diagnosis codes. The system assumes sicker…

Home Health

Post Acute and Healthcare Reform “Now”

Healthcare reform is not a single bill. It is three separate changes moving through the federal system at once, and only one of them touches a skilled nursing facility’s day-to-day operations directly. Operators who treat…

Senior Housing

In-House v. Contract Therapy: Know the Risks

The in-house versus contract therapy decision is usually framed as an operating question — margin, staffing burden, flexibility. It is actually a liability question, and too many SNF operators make the choice without fully pricing…

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Reg

Healthcare executive, consultant, and author covering post-acute care, senior living, and the economics behind both - for 30+ years.

The Weekly Briffing

No noise - just what changed in healthcare policy and economics, and why it matters to your operation.