Medicare Fraud: $2.75 Billion Recovered

Late June, the Department of Justice released its 2024 Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Action, detailing actions against nearly two hundred individuals, encompassing Medicare fraud totaling $2.75 billion in recovered losses ($1.6 billion in actual cash losses). One of the major problems with Medicare, aside from its structural financing, is that it is bureaucratically bloated, full of … Read more

Altarum Report: Healthcare Spending Accelerates Between May 23 and May 24

From May 2023 to May 2024, the overall healthcare costs accelerated (increased) by 3.4%, marking the most rapid increase since December 2007, as reported in Altarum’s monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators brief, released yesterday. The report is available here: Altarum-June-2024-HSEI-Combined Expenditures on nursing home care increased by 4.8% year-over-year, while home healthcare spending saw a … Read more

Wednesday Feature: Fitch Reinforces Deteriorating Outlook for CCRCs

Happy Hump Day! Yesterday, I wrote a post regarding the economy and elements that correlate to CCRC performance. In that post, I referenced Fitch Ratings and their “deteriorating” outlook for the sector. Interesting enough, on the same day, Fitch issued a comment that reinforces a deteriorating outlook for CCRCs.  The quick comment from Fitch is … Read more

The Economy and CCRC Performance – Update

Recently (June 12), the Federal Reserve held its latest FOMC (Federal Open Markets Committee) meeting and decided to maintain the current Fed Funds rate within the range of 5.25% to 5.50%.  The reasoning remains the current position of the economy, inflation therein, signals that inflation is a bit more persistent, and that without more definitive … Read more

The Ensign Group Inc. Case Study: Nursing Home Chains Analysis

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, nursing homes across the United States faced daunting challenges. One such example is The Ensign Group Inc., the second largest for-profit chain in the country. A descriptive case study delves into the financial and quality metrics of this publicly traded U.S. nursing home chain during the age of … Read more

DOJ Gets Aggressive in Pursuit of Telehealth Fraud

It was only a matter of time before cases involving telehealth fraud/False Claims Act cases became public.  This week, two press releases from the DOJ illustrated how aggressive the agency has become in the pursuit of telehealth related fraud. I suspect more, larger in implication (dollar value, geographic spread), will drop publicly in the next … Read more

Private Equity Investment in Nursing Home Sector Generates Regulatory Scrutiny

Private equity investment in the nursing home and assisted living sector (other post-acute as well) continues to be a focus of regulatory activity in Congress.  This is despite private equity investment in the nursing home sector to be involve about 5% of facilities. Home health has seen an increasing investment interest as well from private … Read more

Defend Your Long-Term Care Facility Against Litigation with Expert Data Analysis

My firm has a unique practice concentration in the area of complex litigation. Our expertise is principally on the defense side of claims. Our team assists long-term care providers in leveraging intricate data to safeguard against legal disputes and adverse public opinion. We help clients discover methods to analyze and utilize data from government, consumers, … Read more

Preventing Falls in Seniors: Key Interventions Revealed by JAMA Study

Earlier this week, JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) published a summary article on interventions to prevent/reduce falls in community-based (non-institutionalized) seniors.  The core focus of the article is about preventing falls in seniors. The article is available here: jama fall prevention in older adullts As regular readers know, I don’t write a great deal … Read more

Maryland SNF Class Action Suit: Nursing Home Residents Seek Mandatory Inspections

Happy Hump Day! Reg’s Blog is back up and running! Lots of stuff has happened over the past couple of weeks that the site was under construction or should I say, remodeling. I’ll try to get caught up on the important stuff and ultimately, get current as new events, etc. happen. Yesterday, an interesting lawsuit dropped … Read more