Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
In Part I, I wrote about my last week’s conversations, etc. regarding the home health industry, specifically Amedysis, the Senate Finance Committee inquiry, the industry impact via the PPACA and the likely consolidation and merger trends that are approaching. Suffice to say, not all of last week’s news and conversations focused on the home health … Read more
Sorry for borrowing (piece of) a soap opera title for this post but it is rather appropriate given the news that occurred over the past 30 days. Just this past week, I’ve been interviewed by two business newspapers and on the phone with an investment banking firm I consult with from time to time regarding … Read more
The title of this post likely appears a tad bifurcated but as you read through it, the title should make a bit more sense. In the past two weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with potential buyer’s looking at or for (to acquire), senior housing projects (AL, IL, some CCRC and a few SNFs). Invariably, the conversations … Read more
In a bit of an indirect manner, Assisted Living got a boost from health care reform, albeit in a typical governmental fashion. With the Feds willing to use Medicaid as the vehicle for expanded coverage programs for underinsured (those within 150% of the poverty limit with high-deductible plans) and the uninsured, coupled with additional funding for Home … Read more
It has been a world-wind few days (make that a week) analyzing all that is or was, health care reform. In some respects, I’m glad that the meat of health care reform is done for now though admittedly, I’m disappointed at the outcome. Suffice to say, I will catch-up on the ramifications of the legislation … Read more
Lately I’ve been running across intermittent publications/blog posts, etc. regarding a general decline in hospice census. At the end of this post, I’ve attached a couple of links for anyone who wishes to see some examples of what I’ve been reading. Naturally, being the curious consultant and health policy junkie that I am, I started … Read more
Within the past ten or so days, I took some time to review the financial and operating benchmarks for CCRCs. The past eighteen months have likely been the toughest operational and financial period ever for CCRCs. By the end of 2009, a small rebound in the economy via an increase in existing home sales, a … Read more
As 2010 comes in and looking back on 2009, the Assisted Living market has been on a bit of a roller-coaster. Without question, the downturn in the economy caused some provider pain most notably among some of the larger, heavily leveraged companies (e.g. Sunrise and Sunwest). Occupancy rates were soft in many parts of the country, … Read more
I lost track this past year of how many people I talked to that told me that, “organizationally, we are kind of stalled in developing new business because of the economy and health care reform”. I know that in down economic periods, promotion budgets (advertising, sponsorships,etc.) are some of the first line items trimmed but … Read more
As we head now into the new year, it makes sense for CCRCs to pre-ordain the recovery just a bit and move back into a modest-aggressive posture, qualifying and securing new residents. Even with a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, no CCRC owner/operator should expect there to be a great deal of pent-up demand. Seniors aren’t monitoring CCRC opportunities and the market and economic conditions favorable for sales – that frankly is the CCRC’s job. In order to get “back in the game” so to speak, a CCRC’s marketing approach may need to be tactically tweaked. The next generation of marketing plans will need to be different, for quite some time, from those of say two years ago.