60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts
There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps on federal Medicaid payments to states do not appear to be under serious consideration. However, even without direct federal cuts, rulemaking changes could materially affect Medicaid-dependent providers. CMS has issued a proposed rule that aims to close what it describes as a Medicaid “tax loophole” that some states have used to inflate federal... Read More »60 Seconds with Swett: Welltower Is on a Roll
Welltower came out with its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, and surprise, surprise, it was yet another great quarter, and its share price jumped 3.5% immediately upon the news. It was the tenth consecutive quarter in which same store SHOP NOI growth exceeded 20%, at 21.7% in the first quarter. Guidance for same store NOI growth also rose by 100 basis points to a midpoint of 19.0% for FY2025. On Tuesday’s call, Welltower did mention that SHOP margins remain below pre-pandemic levels, but they may not be for long. Also, that issue currently plagues thousands of communities in this country and was prevalent in the years before COVID too. Perhaps that is why most of what we hear from... Read More »
