Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
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
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
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
Late last week, I ran across a number of news posts regarding a proposed class action lawsuit against the hospital/health system giant Advocate Aurora, alleging that the organization used its market mass to limit competition and in return, impose excessively high prices on commercial health plans and their insureds. The suit was filed in Wisconsin (where … Read more
Happy Hump Day! My apologies right off for such a head scratching title but this is where I am most days when I see economic reports like the recent jobs report (last week) from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (report is here: January BLS Report 1 24 ) The news is good, maybe, kind of, … 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
As the economy continued to struggle through a high inflationary cycle with restrictive Federal Reserve policy in-place to curb inflation, providers struggled to stay afloat in the turbulent economic waters. Significant financial headwinds in 2023 have only modestly abated at the start of 2024. Labor supply issues (shortages) of direct care staff (other disciplines as well) … Read more
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
Fourth quarter data is out from the National Investment Center regarding senior living/senior care occupancies and the trend remains positive. See the NIC summary here: 4Q23-NIC-MAP-Market-Fundamentals-PDF Senior Housing occupancy, 4th quarter, came in at 85.1%, up 80 basis points from the 3rd quarter. Nursing home/SNF occupancy rose to 83.1%, up 70 basis points. Assisted Living … Read more