Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Political and health policy information specific to Wisconsin
The Federal Reserve hasn’t always conducted FOMC meetings (Federal Open Market Committee). It started meeting in late 1973 or early 1974. The purpose of the meeting was to address inflation primarily, in the economy; ways to control it, ways to stabilize monetary policy, ways to create price stability. In the mid 1970s, the Fed began … Read more
On Monday, Fitch (investment rating agency) dropped a non-rating commentary as an alert that should the economy hit a recession (I would argue not “should” but “when”), that Life Plan communities will encounter additional financial pressure. Recall that in December 2022, Fitch issued its outlook on the Life Plan/CCRC market, qualifying it as “deteriorating.” Per … Read more
During the pandemic, senior housing (all forms) saw a drop, some precipitous like SNFs, in occupancy. As the pandemic has now waned, the recovery continues. This is good news for the sector, but occupancy is not the only factor impacting recovery. According to the National Investment Center (NIC), occupancy in the sector varies between market … Read more
With election season heating-up, I’m going to drop some posts in from time to time on health policy issues that candidates SHOULD be talking about – not that they will. The issues I will put forth are the biggies, not the trivial stuff that campaigns and parties use as talking points (e.g., improving Obama Care, … Read more
The title may jog memories for some readers. During the 1992 election cycle, advisor to then candidate Bill Clinton, James Carville, (running against George H.W. Bush) used the phrase for campaign workers as a charge to focus on. He wanted people to pay attention to the economic issues (inflation) affecting how people were feeling about … Read more
As economic conditions continue to create headwinds for senior living, I thought this post was timely. Bottom-line: I’m seeing lots of single site and even a number of multi-site, small scale organizations struggling. Depending on their markets and their debt load plus cash position, surviving as independents could be a real challenge over the upcoming … Read more
I’ve written a lot over the years about understanding the unique connection between quality care and the systems to support its delivery, and revenue. Arguably, the most successful provider organizations understand that impeccable quality of care (delivery, outcomes, patient satisfaction) begets high occupancy (referrals) and preferential payer mix (quality mix). Of course, the inverse relationship … Read more
No other segment of senior living/senior care got rocked as much by the pandemic as skilled nursing. Frankly, the industry had challenges from labor shortages and lagging reimbursement entering the pandemic (2020). The pandemic didn’t just accentuate these issues, it blew them up in terms of magnitude (impact) while adding supply chain issues, inflation, and … Read more
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! This morning, CMS dropped a proposed rule for a staffing mandate for SNFs. On Wednesday, I wrote about the delays (staffing mandate) and the information from a CMS contracted study completed by Abt and Associates. That post is here: https://wp.me/ptUlY-LM The consensus around the staffing mandate issue is that CMS was bogged … Read more
It seems like I have been writing a lot on staffing issues these past few months, and I have. Staffing along with the current economy, are a Hydra today (two headed serpent), negatively impacting provider financial conditions and patient care in many forms (access, outcomes, care coordination, etc.). A few months ago, I wrote a … Read more