Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
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
Within the normal news cycle, legislation often gets ignored, especially in this hyper volatile election cycle we have begun. I’m expecting very little in terms of reform or new legislation on important healthcare issues to come forward, and, so far, I’m right. With near gridlock due to small opposing majorities in both houses of Congress, … Read more
When I got married to my wife and business partner (the partner came after), part of our honeymoon was spent in Las Vegas. While there, we caught Penn and Teller’s Vegas show and it was AWESOME! I love magic and in particular, the kind that is up close and personal. The trade term now seems … Read more
Happy Hump Day! A favorite movie series of mine is Back to the Future, particularly parts 1 and 2. Made in the 80s, both are fun to watch in terms of their references to points in time, especially in part 2 where the “future” is 2015! Having lived through 2015, my memories don’t quite compare … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, on February 22nd. the Department of Justice issued its annual statement regarding False Claims Act activity in FY 2023 (federal fiscal years run 10/1 to 9/30). “Settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.68 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023. The government and whistleblowers were … Read more
Yesterday, the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living plus the National Assocation of ACOs released a white paper that includes a set of recommendations for CMS, designed to increase the participation of long term and post-acute care (LTPAC) providers in accountable care organizations (ACOs). The white paper is available here: AHCA … Read more
Happy Hump Day! Long title for what is going to be, a rather brief post. As followers and regular readers know, my firm (I am the co-founder and part owner) H2 Healthcare, LLC has a practice area uniquely concentrated on clinical compliance and complex litigation support. The practice area is headed by Diane Hislop, RN (yes, … Read more
Among the many healthcare sectors I follow, rural healthcare has become my favorite. Oddly enough, it’s not because of the policy issues that exist, though it should be. It is because it is an overlooked sector and one that has a real risk of collapse. Last summer (2023) I wrote a post about the plight … Read more
In 2023, regulators re-instituted audits of facilities for inappropriate diagnoses of schizophrenia (justification for anti-psychotic use), plus a five-claim audit of every nursing home. The purpose of the audit was to address a long-standing concern that inappropriate coding was driving higher Medicare reimbursement under PDPM, despite documentation in patient records, not substantiating the level of care … Read more
TGIF! A report I get and enjoy comes from Altarum (a non-profit consulting organization) looking at various economic data elements with regard to healthcare spending across a number of metrics (percent of GDP, time series growth, etc.). Granted, the report is a bit “wonky” but given what I do for a living, “wonky” is kind … Read more