With all the talk of rising acuity in skilled nursing, how are operators going to manage the resulting rise in revenues and, of course, costs? Based on SNF sales in 2014 (according to The Senior Care Acquisition Report), the average expense ratio has fallen to a five-year low of 88.2%, or 50 basis points lower than in 2013. With this significant fall coming in tandem with the rise in average price per bed paid for SNF acquisitions in 2014, it is clear that buyers will pay a premium for a facility that better manages its expenses, especially in this higher acuity, higher cost market.