‘Real Heartache’: Medicaid Redetermination Post-PHE Causing Nursing Homes Serious Cash Flow Problems, Anxiety

Flaws with the Medicaid redetermination process are leading to an increasing number of existing nursing home residents being found ineligible for Medicaid coverage — creating headaches for nursing homes. This view is held by officials at several state health care associations, who spoke to Skilled Nursing News. Montana, for one, has Medicaid redetermination information being […]

Sabra’s Matros Says No ‘False Guardrails’ Around M&A Pipeline, Potential Skilled Nursing Deals

The year ahead for Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) presents a “terrific” opportunity for improved margins and potential dealmaking, with eyes on multiple asset classes, according to Sabra CEO Rick Matros. While the California-based real estate investment trust (REIT) has focused in the past couple years on diversifying its portfolio – namely adding behavioral […]

What the $105M Portopiccolo Financing from Northwind, CareTrust Signals About Nursing Home Sector Stabilization

Northwind Group, a real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager, announced multiple significant investments in the skilled nursing sector earlier this month in a move that underlines a favorable environment for deal making for large players. A portfolio of nursing homes owned by The Portopiccolo Group benefited from the provision of credit facilities […]

Nursing Home Reimbursement Pressure ‘Flat Out Profound,’ Necessitating Innovative Models

It’s becoming harder than ever to operate standalone skilled nursing facilities amid inadequate government funding, and innovative business models that deal with challenges, especially those related to staffing, have and will be borne from necessity. “Innovative models are going to present themselves in some way to stop this train,” said Dan Hermann, president and CEO […]

PACS Starts Next Chapter With New Leaders, 200-Plus Facility Footprint

Following significant leadership changes recently at PACS Group, new initiatives are afoot at the nursing home giant as it continues to expand its footprint. To discuss these endeavors, Skilled Nursing News sat down with the new leadership at PACS, whose affiliates operate more than 200 facilities in nine states – 58 of these acquired in […]

AHCA CEO Parkinson to Retire in 2025, Search on for Successor

Mark Parkinson, CEO and president of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), on Tuesday announced plans for retirement after 13 years with the association, and leading its members through the pandemic. Parkinson plans to stay on until Jan. 15 of next year, as the association launches its search for […]

‘Elephant in the Room’: Medicare Advantage a Huge Factor in CCRC Decision Making Around Nursing Home Services

Soaring costs associated with skilled nursing – and problematic payer sources – are making it harder for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) to provide such labor intensive post-acute care. CCRCs have to ask themselves some hard questions when it comes to what services they can reasonably offer, and if it’s worth it to keep open […]

Inside the Rash of Abrupt Nursing Home Closures: The Key Factors at Play

In recent months, the nursing home sector has witnessed a concerning uptick in the abrupt closure of nursing homes across the United States, with closures in New Jersey, Missouri, California and Vermont, displacing residents. Many factors are at play in the abrupt shuttering of these nursing homes. A tough economic environment, stubborn staffing problems, a […]

Marcum: Fines Cost Nursing Home Sector $560M as Volume Quadruples in Post-Pandemic Era

The volume of non-compliant fines quadrupled in the post-pandemic period between 2020 and 2022, with a staggering 36,370 such fines being issued to nursing homes, costing the industry a total of $560 million nationwide, according to the 2024 Marcum Three-Year Nursing Home Statistical Review. The high cost to the sector from fines was despite the […]

Why Good Samaritan Society Is Investing $200M in New CCRC After Nursing Home Pullback

Sanford Health announced plans Tuesday to break ground on a $200 million project for a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in South Dakota through its subsidiary, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. The Good Samaritan Society executives told Skilled Nursing News that the funding for the project is an outcome of a strategy to expand […]

Why the Medicaid Battle is Leading to More Quality-Based Nursing Home Payments

In the midst of lagging Medicaid reimbursements, more nursing providers are pushing states to launch quality incentive programs that are designed to enhance care and reward high-performing long-term care providers. Twenty-four states already have them in place, and the latest to join this trend is Pennsylvania. And to that end, nursing home providers in Pennsylvania […]

CareTrust Execs: Skilled Nursing Acquisition Market Heating Up, Strong Year for Investments Expected

Executives at CareTrust REIT (Nasdaq: CTRE) believe that the acquisition market for skilled nursing assets should heat up in 2024. And they highlighted the company’s robust financial position to be able to make investments, with $600 million available on their line of credit and nearly $300 million in cash. “We expect 2024 to be a […]

Omega Exec: CMS Staffing Mandate Casts Shadow Over Improving Nursing Home Fundamentals

As Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI) advanced on its restructuring efforts at 2023’s end, company executives said that they were finally able to have a better grasp on their outlook for 2024. And, while the company’s current fundamentals were looking strong, the looming federal staffing mandate might obscure the path forward for the sector […]

In Positive Move for Nursing Homes, CMS’ Prior Auth Rule Cracks Down Further on Medicare Advantage Plans

Piece by piece, nursing home operators are seeing stricter government oversight of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, a welcome relief given that partnerships with such managed care plans have become a huge source of administrative burden for providers in the sector, especially as workforce shortages persist. Most recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) […]

Skilled Nursing Outlook 2024: Leaders Bullish on Occupancy But Recruitment, Retention Emerge as Significant Concerns

The year 2024 will pose a challenging landscape for skilled nursing professionals, with staffing problems still creating headaches. And yet, optimism is increasing and providers seem eager to drive expansion amid overall positive expectations for occupancy growth. The Skilled Nursing Outlook 2024 survey, which SNN conducted in partnership with Net Health, points to leaders perceiving […]

How WellSky, Google Cloud Aim to Start Delivering on AI’s Promise for Nursing Homes

Generative AI may become a more prominent part of caregiving for skilled nursing operators who need to save time due to staffing shortages. WellSky, a software analytics company that services healthcare providers, unveiled a collaboration with Google Cloud late last week to develop advanced data analytics tools, machine learning capabilities, and artificial intelligence in healthcare […]

‘Significant Bandwidth’: Ensign Reports Jump in Census, Managed Care Revenue, Expects Localized Growth  

Acquisitions and localized growth, along with the looming federal minimum staffing proposal and legal settlements were top of mind for executives of the Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) as the California-based organization closed out the year. Managed care revenue and census increased during the quarter by 12.3% and 3.5% respectively, compared to the prior year’s quarter, […]

As Medicare Advantage Policies Compound, More Regulatory Activity Expected in Coming Months for Nursing Homes

Nursing home operators can expect to see a lot more regulatory activity in the next few months, with rules and regulations being finalized prior to a potential presidential administration change, with that administration taking office in 2025. A slew of proposed and finalized rules were issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) […]