Skilled Nursing Must-Reads: Mainstreet Troubles, Generator Rule

Lost in a flurry of news from the National Investment Centers for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) Spring Investment Forum and harsh funding recommendations from MedPAC, here are some of the stories we couldn’t cover earlier in the week to help get you ready for the one ahead.

Mainstreet hits another snag

A week after Mainstreet announced 70 layoffs and the cancellation of all planned projects in Arizona, the post-acute developer suffered another blow, this time in Indiana.

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The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a moratorium on the issuance of new nursing home licenses, thwarting Mainstreet’s plan to open nine facilities in the state, The Indiana Lawyer reported. The freeze on development began March 1, 2015, and was recently extended through the end of June 2019; Mainstreet had already entered into land purchase agreements for four sites in the state when the moratorium took effect, the publication noted.

In challenging the moratorium, the developer argued that the freeze interfered with its contractual obligations and resulted in the waste of millions of dollars already invested in the projects. The court disagreed.

“Evidence regarding the expenditure of money, time, and effort could be characterized as normal business efforts expended to investigate future business opportunities,” Judge Terry Crone wrote, according to The Indiana Lawyer.

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Florida passes generator bill

Wrapping up months of wrangling, both houses of the Florida legislature passed a bill that will require all nursing homes to maintain backup generators and 72 hours’ worth of fuel — essentially ratifying Gov. Rick Scott’s emergency order from last year.

Controversy over the proposal dominated the skilled nursing industry in Florida last fall in the wake of 14 deaths at a nursing home following Hurricane Irma. While major provider organizations supported the spirit of the rule, some had reservations about the cost and the quick turnaround required.

The new requirement could cost skilled nursing and assisted living operators $243 million over the next five years, according to South Florida public radio station WLRN.

More demographic ripples

The U.S. Census Bureau provided its own view on the upcoming “silver tsunami” of aging baby boomers, releasing statistics showing that Americans older than 65 will outnumber children under 18 for the first time in 2035.

Several other countries have already passed that milestone, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out: France, Germany, and Spain already have populations where the old outnumber the young, and in Japan, one in four citizens is older than 65.

The United States won’t hit that mark until 2060, with triple the number of people aged 85 and older. For perspective, the youngest millennials — those born in 1996, according to the most recent definition from the Pew Research Center — will be turning 64 that year.

Written by Alex Spanko

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