Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Political and health policy information specific to Wisconsin
Organizational expansion is truly a tale of two options (primarily): add capacity organically (build or start from scratch) or acquire an existing business. Both have pluses and minuses, but when it comes to scale on a more rapid basis and movement into a new market area, acquisition tends to make more sense versus an organic … Read more
In December of 2022, Fitch (credit rating agency) issued their outlook for the non-profit, Life Plan (CCRC) sector within the senior housing industry. Fitch outlooks are a primer for creditors seeking to determine lending scales for the upcoming year (bullish v. bearish). The Fitch outlook for the sector was “deteriorating”. The basis for this negative … Read more
One of the largest complaints about senior care and housing is cost. It is or can be, darn expensive. The best, most amenitized Life Plan projects can run hundreds of thousands of dollars to enter and tens of thousands more in monthly fees. Rates inflate typically, more than CPI each year. Lately, rate inflation has … Read more
In its latest update, the Altarum Health Sector Economic Indicators, provided some interesting information on health care spending, job growth, and pricing. The data was released yesterday and is accessible here: https://altarum.org/publications/june-2023-health-sector-economic-indicators-briefs Some key data points from the report are as follows. The data is useful in forecasting, budgeting, and planning, especially in terms of … Read more
Just a tick early as mid-year officially won’t occur until this Saturday with the second quarter officially ending, Friday. This said, not much is likely to change the current status between now and Friday or for that matter, any time soon. The first half of 2023 can be summed up through a look at two … Read more
As I close the week, I’ve been following a lot of legal news, specifically court cases involving health care and in one case, a decision from the Supreme Court. Legal news can be rather arcane and boring but, in some cases, the implications of decisions can be rather profound. Such is the case (no pun … Read more
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) via a report submitted to Congress on Thursday (yesterday) indicated that a single post-acute payment under Medicare is feasible but extensive policy procedural changes would be required to make it workable. The concept is that one uniform payment would apply to post-acute care delivered in home health, skilled nursing, … Read more
There are nearly 300 articles/posts on this site and from time to time, I’m going to repost an “oldie but a goodie” that is as applicable now as it was when I originally wrote it. This is from July of 2009. This follows well with Tuesday’s piece on OIG initiatives and SNFs…https://wp.me/ptUlY-BJ This seemed to … Read more
This morning, the Supreme Court ruled that residents and their surviving heirs/family members can sue a publicly owned nursing home under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act. The court upheld a lower court ruling against the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC). This organization operates publicly owned (governmental) SNFs in Indiana. A couple … Read more
A recent federal funds rate cut by the Federal Reserve of 50 bps has created a bit of optimism in the M&A and capital development arena for senior living and senior housing. The expectation of more Fed rate cuts going forward undergirds the optimism BUT…Overall economic conditions remain sketchy including inflation which, ticked a notch higher … Read more