In case you missed it, here’s a look at the past week in skilled nursing news, from a potential final showdown between a major provider and its landlord to a peek into the highest-paid executives in the business. Today’s the day for HCR ManorCare, Inc. to pay the back rent it owes Quality Care Properties, […]
Category: Medicare
For-profit skilled nursing operators captured a gradually larger share of the United States SNF market from 2009 and 2015, while non-profits increasingly ceded ground to governments. In 2015, for-profits accounted for 68.4% of the nation’s 15,583 certified nursing facilities, according to a Tuesday report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s compared to a 23.8% share […]
At first, the conclusion seems obvious: Hospitals that sink more money into post-acute services provide better care to patients than their lower-spending counterparts. But those findings, released this week by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have stark implications for skilled nursing providers. “We find that patients who go to hospitals that rely more […]
As ongoing Obamacare repeal efforts cloud the future of Medicaid, a bipartisan pair of representatives introduced a bill they claim will help strengthen Medicare Advantage access for the most vulnerable seniors. H.R. 3168 would reauthorize Medicare Special Needs Plans, which are generally restricted to recipients who need institutional care, must manage chronic illnesses, or qualify for […]
The Senate’s proposed health care legislation, like the bill that passed the House, includes significant cuts to Medicaid, which is the top payer for skilled nursing services. This presents obvious challenges for SNFs, but also may provide some positive outcomes. In the first quarter of 2017, 65.2% of patient days were attributed to Medicaid, and the Medicaid patient […]
Skilled Nursing News Take: In the same week that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would delay enforcement of new skilled nursing regulations, Kaiser Health News took this deep look into how some troubled SNFs continue to rack up safety violations even after graduating from the agency’s most stringent monitoring […]
Last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its first comprehensive overhaul of skilled nursing rules since 1991. But faced with objections from operators in the industry about the scope and timing of the new requirements, CMS decided to delay their enforcement of the regulations. The Phase 2 stipulations of the revised Requirements […]
Several publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) have backed off skilled nursing in recent months and years, but one major player recently made an eye-popping investment in the asset class. The largest health care REITs — Ventas (NYSE: VTR), Welltower (NYSE: HCN), and HCP (NYSE: HCP) — all have either spun off the majority […]
Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN) on Friday announced the execution of a $53.6 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice over a variety of improper billing allegations. The Kennett Square, Pa.-based post-acute provider denied all of the government’s claims, which included four separate sets of allegations involving various Genesis subsidiaries. In its complaint, the DOJ […]
Occupancy at skilled nursing facilities rose 36 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017, but ended the quarter on a downward trend. SNFs had 82.6% occupancy in the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest Skilled Nursing Data Report from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing […]
Skilled nursing facilities are a prime breeding ground for Legionnaires’ disease, and an outbreak could prove costly for the operator — both in terms of care outcomes and additional expenses — according to a recent presentation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC analyzed 2015 data related to outbreaks of the potentially […]
HCR ManorCare failed to completely pay its June rent to primary landlord Quality Care Properties (NYSE: QCP), citing pressure from its secured lenders and decreased profit projections. One of the largest skilled nursing providers in the country, the Toledo, Ohio-based HCR ManorCare paid just $15 million of the $32 million it owed QCP for June rent, […]
The Administration for Community Living logged more than 9,000 complaints about involuntary discharges from long-term care facility residents across the country in 2015, and now lawmakers are taking notice. In particular, officials in Maryland and Illinois have begun investigating discharge rates in their states, according to a recent report from NPR. Maryland Attorney General Brian […]
by Laurie Thomas and Guy Cowart Historically, we as skilled nursing and therapy providers have been used to a level of industry stability. Within this familiar framework, we’ve trained our leaders with certainty and delivered care with a confident rhythm. Unfortunately, this model simply may not serve us well in the future, with our rapidly […]