Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Political and health policy information specific to Wisconsin
TGIF and Happy Hanukkah (to my Jewish colleagues and friends)! A major concern as the demographic in the U.S. ages is senior housing and services affordability. The expanding cohort of seniors in terms of real purchasing power, is not as financially fit as prior generations. The Baby Boomers for example, while well paid in their … Read more
I follow Medicaid but don’t often get many inquiries around Medicaid policy or requests for articles in this subject area. Medicaid, however, is very important for providers, especially post-acute and senior living, as it is typically, a significant if not majority payer. During COVID and the public health emergency, Medicaid policy and CMS enacted requirements … Read more
Happy Hump Day! Advent has begun and soon, Chanukah will kick-off. ‘Tis the season or seasons. I will no doubt say this (or write it) many times over, but it always bears repeating, Happy Holidays to all! Yesterday, I wrote a post about Fitch Rating’s and their outlook for CCRCs/Life Plan communities for 2024. Fitch maintained … Read more
Among the many topical areas I watch in health care, I pay particular attention to liability and litigation. As frequent readers/followers know, my firm, H2 Healthcare, LLC, focuses a practice area on clinical compliance and litigation support. My wife and the firm’s Senior Partner is one of the foremost experts (nationally) in litigation support and … Read more
I get asked about value-based care a lot. It is a buzzword or term these days, somewhat driven by the rise in Medicare Advantage enrollment. Frankly, it is a bit of a catch-all concept that has its origins in Medicare and various demonstration projects (e.g., bundled payments) and the implementation of quality measures to “improve … Read more
Since the COVID pandemic, regulatory officials have escalated the review, via various audits, of SNF emergency preparedness. COVID highlighted the sporadic and often, non-existent preparations for disasters (natural and other) and disease outbreaks (pandemic or other) that existed with the SNF industry. In reality, the issues have been present for years but only regionally, highlighted … Read more
Somewhat buried within the Home Health Final Rule (PPS) was an update on a CMS initiative to identify hospice agencies requiring additional regulatory oversight for poor care performance (poor quality, unsafe care practices). Back in 2021, CMS began the Special Focus initiative and in the 2024 Hospice Final Rule, CMS indicated that the recommendations for … Read more
TGIF! This week has been very busy with lots of data and lots of economic news. We got a new report from the BLS on inflation. We got earnings reports from Home Depot, Target, and yesterday, Wal Mart indicating what we saw from the Conference Board – consumers are slowing their spending. I called the … Read more
While mergers and acquisitions are generally down, affiliations, closings in some cases, and sponsorship changes in non-profit senior living and care are at a record pace. Back in July, I wrote about the disconnect between acquisitions and the merger/affiliation changes occurring among non-profits. That post is here: https://rhislop3.com/2023/07/24/senior-living-and-care-ma-two-worlds/ A news release from Ziegler Investment Banking, … Read more
OK, the title is kind of funky, but these concepts do connect. Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (inflation report) for October, 2023. Good news? Maybe. A mixed bag? Definitely. Headlines win the day, and politically spun, it’s fascinating to see which numbers resonate. The full report/release is here: cpi … Read more