Brookdale Laser Focusing On The Future
With fewer distractions and increasing stability, a renewed focus on increasing cash flow and value. So, management at Brookdale Senior Living has got some religion. It has been on the road trying to sell their story to investors. And it appears that selling the bulk of their owned real estate is off the table, which I agree with. They will continue with selective dispositions, although not as many as I think they should, and they have basically put their landlords on notice that as leases come up for renewal, they want to negotiate the lease rates down for the underperformers, or they will walk. Also good news. In addition, they are under-promising with the expectation that they will over... Read More »
Medicaid and Assisted Living
As Managed Care expands into Medicaid, we may see more Medicaid-funded assisted living, and the jury is still out on what that means. Let’s face it, there will be a growing number of people over age 80 who will not be able to afford to live in assisted living and memory care communities, at least not the ones being built today. Even fewer can afford skilled nursing, with monthly private pay rates two and three times higher than assisted living. So what’s going to happen? Some people say home- and community-based care will fill the void, but that is not always cheaper nor the best option. Some states have done a good job with Medicaid waivers to financially support lower-income seniors who... Read More »
Media Bias Against SNFs Again
The New York Times is at it again, and the reporters don’t want to do some simple math. Well, well, it looks like The New York Times is at it again. Two weeks ago it had a sensationalist story about residents “held” in nursing facilities. Last weekend, they continued on the theme of the disabled being confined in nursing facilities and ready to go home. The gist of the story was that home and community based care is what the elderly and disabled want (true), and that it is cheaper to boot (not so true). In fact, they cited Washington State as claiming that they can care for seven people at home for the cost of one person in a nursing facility. Really? The Washington Medicaid daily... Read More »
Changes at HCP, Brookdale, Genesis
Earnings season brings more than just earnings to the surface for some companies. What can I say? It has been quite a week, and we are only at Wednesday. On Monday subscribers received my initial take on HCP’s announcement about spinning out its HCR ManorCare portfolio into a new REIT. Maybe management thought it was necessary, but I really think we are going to be hearing some negative news in the future, and if so, it will make HCP’s decision look better. Just look at the performance of Genesis Health in the first quarter, which sent its share price plummeting by 20% yesterday. One problem is that with the HCR portfolio representing more than 25% of HCP’s revenues, with it gone,... Read More »
Skilled Nursing Facilities Are Not Prisons
Apparently, The New York Times thinks people are “held” in nursing facilities, at least in South Dakota. I don’t know if any of you caught yesterday’s front-page headline in The New York Times, but it really got me mad. The headline was, “Thousands Are Held Wrongly In Nursing Homes.” Held? Are they talking about prisons? I know no one wants to be there, but they are not “held.” The article was about South Dakota, where apparently people who should not be in a skilled nursing setting are there because there are no other options. At least none that will be paid for by someone else. One resident told investigators that when friends came to take him out for a ride, they had to sign... Read More »Schedule a demo
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