Compliance Update: Fraud and Abuse

A complex area for providers, especially with respect to their compliance programs, are the concepts of fraud and abuse. Central to current requirements for compliance programs, all post-acute providers are REQUIRED to have compliance programs that, Include policies and procedures to define, test for, and mitigate any issues pertaining to fraud and abuse. In this … Read more

Non-Profit Ownership/Sponsorship Changes Moving at Record Pace

While mergers and acquisitions are generally down, affiliations, closings in some cases, and sponsorship changes in non-profit senior living and care are at a record pace. Back in July, I wrote about the disconnect between acquisitions and the merger/affiliation changes occurring among non-profits. That post is here: https://rhislop3.com/2023/07/24/senior-living-and-care-ma-two-worlds/ A news release from Ziegler Investment Banking, … Read more

Hospice Payment Basics/MedPAC

Even after all of the years that I have been in health care and particularly, post-acute care, I still field a good number of questions regarding Hospice, the benefit under Medicare, how payments work, and what the generalized payment amounts are. Having started a few hospices in my career, I can attest that done right, … Read more

Home Health 2024 Final Rule Released

On November 1, CMS issued the final PPS rule for Home Health (2024). The majority of provisions within this rule, especially those related to payment, take effect on January 1, 2024. The Final Rule as published is available for download here: Home Health 2024 Final Rule In July I wrote a post on the proposed … Read more

Wednesday Feature: A Bit of Economic Nostalgia

Happy Hump Day! I was going back through some historic stuff and I landed in 2010. The year 2010 was, after further review, eerily similar to right now, economically speaking. Sadly, not much has changed in terms of health policy and the economic state of healthcare. In 2010, the economy was choppy, recovering or trying … Read more

Rising Health Care Costs – A Serious Issue, Election Implications?

Long time readers/followers know that I from time to time, address health care costs. I follow economics generally and write about the same, especially when there are intersectional issues to address. As we are heading into a presidential election cycle (we are in the early innings) and, issues like health care costs in this country … Read more

Friday Feature: Senior Living Investment Outlook

TGIF! On a calendar year basis, we are into the home stretch for 2023. It’s generally about now that I start looking at how 2024 is shaping up. What trends are there to watch? What do markets look like now, socially and economically? What does policy and politics tell us about the year to come? … Read more

SNF Staffing, Mandates, and More

Seema Verma, former CMS head, spoke out yesterday regarding the proposed staffing mandate (hours and type of staff, per resident per day) proposed rule, indicating her opinion that the approach was flawed. A recap article on her comments is here: https://www.mcknights.com/news/former-cms-chief-verma-regulators-over-their-skis-with-staffing-mandate/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NWLTR_MLT_DAILYUPDATE_110223&hmEmail=IjP1GPaY%2BJ2uvsLxTJ79bVeRWY7ycbnr&sha256email=aa4cb7c695037c31a216b9562788596b6fcd012145d566f31440b6fcd139c8a9 Regular readers know that I have covered various topics on healthcare staffing, particularly as … Read more

MedPAC and Medicare Advantage

In yesterday’s post, Mish-Mash Monday, in the section about the House Budget Committee’s Health Care Task Force, I offered some commentary regarding MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) and Medicare Advantage plans. I also included a letter from the senior living trade association LeadingAge to the Congressional task force that references MedPAC’s concerns regarding Medicare Advantage … Read more

Sr. Living M&A Update – Third Quarter

This topic fits a line from the old police serials of my younger days. These are the favorites I watched religiously like Adam-12, the Rookies, The FBI, etc. The line, generally at a crime scene: Move on folks, nothing to see here. That line fits today’s topic. The mid-year report illustrated softness in activity principally … Read more