Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Political and health policy information specific to Wisconsin
Happy Hump Day! Yesterday I wrote about the OIG’s (Department of Health and Human Services) report and focus on CMS’ oversight of state survey agencies. The impetus behind this focus no doubt comes from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging’s investigation into nursing home survey activities at the state level. The report is available … Read more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG), issued a report regarding the performance of contracted state agencies with respect to nursing home (SNF) compliance surveys. CMS contracts with state agencies, typically state departments of health or divisions thereto, to perform compliance/regulatory activities (surveys) in nursing homes. The report … Read more
Over the years I have written many articles about the cost of healthcare and in particular, the cost of senior living and senior healthcare. As the population ages, the demand for senior living and care expands. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population age 65 and over grew nearly five times faster than the … Read more
The Conference Board, a renowned non-profit research organization, has recently released a comprehensive report that sheds light on the business outlook and concerns of CEOs for the year 2024. This study offers valuable insights into the minds of top executives, highlighting their attention towards the economy and organizational talent. In this post, I’ll delve into … Read more
In 2021, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Within the Act, a new Medicare provider was created – the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). The final rule is available here: Rural Emergency Hospital Final Rule REHs were created to improve and increase, access to emergency services and ideally, expanded outpatient services in rural areas. Starting … Read more
The Fitch Ratings Public Finance outlook dropped earlier this week and not surprising, their outlook for Life Plan Communities and Non-Profit Hospitals/Health Systems remains negative or in their terms, “deteriorating”. Their forecast is for deteriorating credit conditions in these two sectors due primarily to labor and cost pressures (insufficient supply of labor at higher comp levels … Read more
This morning, the Department of Labor issued a final rule interpreting who is and who is not, an independent contractor v. an employee. Contract work in health care has boomed since the pandemic, though even pre-pandemic, the use of contractors (physicians, nurses, therapists, etc.) was on the increase. The final rule is available here: 2024-00067 The … Read more
Two articles in my email caught my attention to start the week. Both have to do with SNF closure risks, one regarding rural facilities and the other regarding staffing challenges. Interesting enough, both cross the same issues for closure, approached however, somewhat differently. I’ve written about this subject for years now yet, attention has only become acute … Read more
TGIF! The U.S. is aging. Its median age is 37.7, just behind China’s median age of 37.9. Comparatively, the U.S. would be considered young in relationship to Japan where the median age is 48.4. While it is true that the Japanese have a longer life expectancy than the average American (84.6 years vs. 77.29 years), … Read more
My work has me very attuned to litigation trends and in particular, COVID litigation. We are just beginning to see COVID litigation coming to a head with some interesting decisions. Within my firm (H2 Healthcare, LLC), is a practice focus headed by my wife. It involves clinical compliance and complex litigation support. She is considered one of, if … Read more