Trends

CMS Releases Annual Report on Health Spending

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Earlier today, CMS released its annual report on national health spending for the year 2008.  In summary, health spending grew at a rate of 4.4% (over 2007), equating to a per capita cost of $7,681 and a total cost of $2.3 trillion.  This rate of growth, per CMS, is the slowest increase since 1960 although … Read more

CMS Releases Hospice Stats

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Within the past two weeks, CMS released data from 1998 to 2008 for length of stay and diagnosis trends.  What is interesting to note is the utilization trends (length of stay and numbers) over the period as well as the diagnosis correlated to utilization.  For CMS and in particular MedPAC, the prevailing concern has been … Read more

Healthcare Reform Update: Inside Baseball Time

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If you are a baseball fan, you’ll appreciate the correlation between a baseball game and the present course of healthcare reform.  A baseball game starts with anticipation and fanfare; speeches, the throwing out of the first pitch, the national anthem and the players taking the field.  The fans settle in and the game begins with cheers … Read more

CCRCs and Problems: Much Ado About Likely, Very Little

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A product that has seen its share of struggles in the economic downturn is entry-fee CCRCs.  To clarify, not all CCRC models are struggling and not even all entry-fee based CCRCs are struggling as certain regions have seen less housing market fall-out and concurrently, operators have done the right things to keep their census stable during the “down … Read more

Healthcare Economic Outlook

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As my work is focused on healthcare and more succinctly, post-acute healthcare and senior housing, I follow overall economic trends and conditions and translate the same for the healthcare economy.  As healthcare remains a private industry today, albeit one that is heavily tied to the Federal government, the general economy does impact the healthcare industry. Arguably, as with the … Read more