Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
Last week, the 2024 Presidential campaign season kicked into full swing with the first candidate debate. Arguably, momentum has been building ahead of the debate, especially in Iowa, during the State Fair, where candidates roamed, gave speeches, and pressed the flesh. I was there one day and enjoyed seeing Tim Scott and few other notables, … Read more
I spend a lot of time in rural America, primarily in the upper-Midwest (Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc.). With the pandemic, the struggling economy, high inflation, high energy costs, labor supply challenges, and rising interest rates, rural health care is struggling like never before. A story on the Fox Business website captures the plight of rural … Read more
I’ve been rather busy lately and my wife’s side of the practice (compliance, litigation), very much so. Suffice to say, as the two prime partners and owners of H2 healthcare, we work collaboratively and support each other. In other words, her “busy” is mine too and vice-versa. So today, I’m setting aside for catch-up and … Read more
For early August, this is a semi-busy week with health policy stuff and upcoming econ data on inflation. Congress is on recess but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a fair amount of activity in-play that will impact the health care industry, some positive, some negative. Likewise, this is the start of the presidential election … Read more
SNFs got a little early Christmas present yesterday when CMS announced its Final Rule (PPS) for Fiscal Year 2024 (begins October 1, 2023). Instead of a 3.7% increase as proposed in the initial rule, CMS finalized a 4% increase (plus an additional 0.3%). Back in April, I wrote about the proposed rule. That post is … Read more
Last Thursday, Senators Bob Casey (Pennsylvania), Ron Wyden (Oregon), and Chucky Grassley (Iowa) sent a letter to CMS asking that the agency “take immediate steps to strengthen the nursing home oversight system”. Their letter is a follow-up to a report from the Senate Committee on Aging, chaired by Casey, detailing a myriad of problems with … Read more
Yesterday, the second quarter GDP report (economic activity) was released. This is the initial print from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It will see two more prints but the initial one is always the headline story. Revisions of late, tend to be down versus up (improvement). I eschew the headlines for the details as the … Read more
Just a tick early as mid-year officially won’t occur until this Saturday with the second quarter officially ending, Friday. This said, not much is likely to change the current status between now and Friday or for that matter, any time soon. The first half of 2023 can be summed up through a look at two … Read more
As I close the week, I’ve been following a lot of legal news, specifically court cases involving health care and in one case, a decision from the Supreme Court. Legal news can be rather arcane and boring but, in some cases, the implications of decisions can be rather profound. Such is the case (no pun … Read more
This morning, the Supreme Court ruled that residents and their surviving heirs/family members can sue a publicly owned nursing home under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act. The court upheld a lower court ruling against the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC). This organization operates publicly owned (governmental) SNFs in Indiana. A couple … Read more