While March Madness for basketball may be over, the madness in Washington with healthcare reform and Medicaid block grants may be just beginning.
First of all, although I am not a gambler, and do not like to speculate in stocks, I do love to fill in my brackets for March Madness. And I have been participating in Randy Bufford’s Trilogy Health Services Madness group for about 10 years now. And….this year I came in fourth out of 695 participants, my second top five finish in 10 years. That’s the good news. The other good news is that, although we were subject to quite a bit of dysfunction in Washington two weeks ago, it looks like the skilled nursing industry has been spared the chaos that would come from Medicaid block grants. At least for now. They could still get resurrected by the GOP separate from any healthcare reform bill, but it may be more difficult now. Block grants would represent several nails in the SNF coffin if passed as some legislators would like to see happen. I am sure providers breathed a big sigh of relief, as did the Tar Heel fans despite all those missed free throws Monday night.
