Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Political and health policy information specific to Wisconsin
Each Friday (hopefully so), I will take a specific topic that has been in the news or been directly posed to me by a colleague or a reader and do a bit of a deep dive feature. This week it’s the future of nursing or more directly, nurses in senior housing and long-term care. As … Read more
Despite significant delays due to COVID, Phase 3 requirements of the “mega rule” are now in effect and one of the most unique elements for SNFs is the Ethics and Compliance requirement – 483.25. A good primer on the requirement is attached here. I have highlighted some key points relative to this post. SNF Compliance … Read more
I pay close attention to economic trends and to the health care industry in general, as the same are applicable. One trend I’m watching quite closely is business consolidation and mergers/affiliations. In the general economy, a lot of consolidation is occurring post-pandemic. Restaurants are closing outlets (Red Lobster, Krispy Kreme, Burger King, etc.), retail outlets … Read more
The first quarter is now in the books (so to speak) and the trend for senior housing remains about the same, a little better but not back to pre-pandemic levels. With a softening real estate market principally due to low inventory levels and high interest rates (by comparison to the past ten years), we are … Read more
‘Tis the season for CMS to release updated payment and program rules for providers under Medicare. In the past week or so, we’ve seen releases for Hospice and Inpatient Rehab Facilities. A couple of days ago, CMS released the proposed 2024 rules/updates for SNFs (skilled nursing). The fact sheet for the release is available here: … Read more
There is a common business axiom, one I have used/repeated many times over: “You can’t save yourself to a profit(able business)”. In health care and in senior living/senior housing, challenges abound and almost daily, new ones arrive. Staffing is incredibly challenging, supply costs are rising, inflationary pressures have increased utility costs, investment portfolios are beat-up … Read more
About a month ago (mid-March), CMS introduced a pilot program called the Medicare Care Choices Model. Basically, this pilot program will allow Medicare beneficiaries to access, via certain participating hospice organizations, dual benefits; hospice and curative treatments, concurrently. Under the current Medicare Hospice Benefit, a patient with a terminal illness or condition, certified likely to … Read more
The 2009-2011 Wisconsin budget (Act 28) incorporates a specific change to how the state defines property tax exemption for non-profit senior housing projects. Up to this point, the existing statutory law was vague and providers were left to contend with a precedent set by an even more vague Supreme Court decision (Columbus Park) and patchwork … Read more
Wisconsin’s new budget creates significant new healthcare tax levels as a means of raising additional Federal matching dollars. This flawed economic approach will only serve to raise the costs of healthcare for every consumer in the state while not directly providing the reimbursement relief touted.
A while back I wrote about the annual/bi-annual shell game that is perpetrated in Wisconsin with the Medicaid program – specifically, the SNF funding and reimbursement components thereto. Now that the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature has completed its budget process, we can see, fully exposed, how much of the shell game has really … Read more