Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
TGIF and Happy Hanukkah (to my Jewish colleagues and friends)! A major concern as the demographic in the U.S. ages is senior housing and services affordability. The expanding cohort of seniors in terms of real purchasing power, is not as financially fit as prior generations. The Baby Boomers for example, while well paid in their … Read more
I follow Medicaid but don’t often get many inquiries around Medicaid policy or requests for articles in this subject area. Medicaid, however, is very important for providers, especially post-acute and senior living, as it is typically, a significant if not majority payer. During COVID and the public health emergency, Medicaid policy and CMS enacted requirements … Read more
Happy Hump Day! Advent has begun and soon, Chanukah will kick-off. ‘Tis the season or seasons. I will no doubt say this (or write it) many times over, but it always bears repeating, Happy Holidays to all! Yesterday, I wrote a post about Fitch Rating’s and their outlook for CCRCs/Life Plan communities for 2024. Fitch maintained … Read more
Since the COVID pandemic, regulatory officials have escalated the review, via various audits, of SNF emergency preparedness. COVID highlighted the sporadic and often, non-existent preparations for disasters (natural and other) and disease outbreaks (pandemic or other) that existed with the SNF industry. In reality, the issues have been present for years but only regionally, highlighted … Read more
OK, the title is kind of funky, but these concepts do connect. Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (inflation report) for October, 2023. Good news? Maybe. A mixed bag? Definitely. Headlines win the day, and politically spun, it’s fascinating to see which numbers resonate. The full report/release is here: cpi … Read more
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
An issue that has been tied to AI (artificial intelligence) and specifically, to Medicare Advantage plans, involves coverage denials. I wrote about this in a post earlier this year at https://rhislop3.com/2023/05/01/medicare-advantage-part-d-final-rule/ Coverage denials have been a fairly hot topic around Medicare Advantage plans. The core of the issue is that Medicare Advantage plans are required … Read more
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
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
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