The Dark Side of the Economy

On Monday, a good portion of the U.S. saw all or portions of a total eclipse. If you were in the “zone of totality”, you saw a heck of a show and witnessed the side-effects of day turning to dark and the weather turning noticeably colder. Cool stuff. Unfortunately, within the past week or so, … Read more

Tip-Toeing Through the (Healthcare)Econ Tulips

Bunches (pun intended) of economic data the past two weeks and as readers can tell from the title, I’m getting a little “punchy” with all the data. Anyone about my age should recall a celebrity known as Tiny Tim. His fame, short-lived as it should have been, including playing the Ukulele and signing in a … Read more

Wednesday Feature: Econ Rollercoaster

Happy Hump Day! This will drop before the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee announces its decision on interest rates today. Prediction: Rates will remain unchanged. The Fed will be a bit hawkish however, about rate policy reminding everyone that they are poised, if necessary, to hike rates to fight inflation. Thus, the title for today … Read more

Analyzing the 2023 Cost of Care Survey: Trends in Long-Term Care Rate Increases

On Tuesday, the Genworth 2023 Cost of Care Survey was released. Year-over-year rate increases in long-term care/senior living ranged from 1% to 10%, depending on the setting (SNF, Assisted Living, etc.). The report is available here: Genworth Cost of Care 2023 The report is interesting though in some ways, a bit misleading as data is … Read more

Econ Tuesday: Houston, We Have a Problem

The February CPI report courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is out this morning and not only is inflation sticky, its ticking back up. I envisioned that the White House, upon seeing the report, said, at least silently, the famous Tom Hanks like from the movie Apollo 13 – “Houston, we have problem”. The … Read more

The Hidden Factor Impacting Consumer Sentiment: Exploring Borrowing Costs

Today’s post is rather short by comparison to others. It is an adjunct to yesterday’s post regarding the credit market status for senior living and post-acute providers. Readers/followers that read the post will note that I included a fair amount of economic discussion, including some Federal Reserve minutes, to frame where I think rates and … Read more

My Notebook: Econ Tuesday Recap

Working on a number of things today with other projects in the fire as well. Haven’t had much time to sit and think, let alone compose much of a post or do much research into current topics so this quicky via the notebook will have to do – Happy TGIF Eve! Tuesday’s CPI report and … Read more

Econ Tuesday: CPI Report Out, Heat Still On

Welp, it’s Fat Tuesday and the King Cake isn’t any cheaper compared to last year. Nothing in today’s January CPI report bears good news for senior living or healthcare providers as the headline inflation number was up .3% from December and 3.1% Year over Year. The Core (all items less food and energy) rose 3.9%. Soft … Read more

Conference Board Report/C-Suite Outook for 2024: Concerns Ahead

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

Fitch 2024 Oulook: Life Plan (CCRC) Communities, Non-Profit Hospitals – Deteriorating

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