Labor Costs and Senior Care
It seems that too many people are avoiding the discussion of what is going to happen to labor costs, and the future impact on cash flow. Unfortunately, most Labor Day weekends I am toiling away trying to finish the September issue of The SeniorCare Investor. Not this year. Labor Day was so late I was able to finish it up so you would have something to read for the weekend. Really. But then I got to thinking, about labor that is. I see all these acquisitions, and all these pro forma cash flows, and I wonder how labor is going to impact things in the next few years. It is the biggest line item, and the one that may see the most changes. I don’t profess to know how many employees in seniors... Read More »Seniors Housing And Dynamic Pricing
There may be a move to adopt the concept of dynamic pricing in seniors housing, but it comes with its own perils. I may be a bit of a contrarian on this one, but I have to admit I am not too wild about the concept of dynamic pricing for seniors housing. I know it works well with hotels, airlines and multifamily, but all three are very different from seniors housing. I am all for more transparency with pricing, such as posting prices online, but dynamic pricing with weekly price changes based on changing local dynamics doesn’t do it for me. Marketing the seniors housing product is a relationship sale over several months, not instantaneous like a plane ticket. This is a lifestyle decision... Read More »Market Turmoil And The Senior Care Market
With stock prices plunging, the impact on the senior care market will be mixed. Well, it’s been a rather interesting past week or so, with more volatility likely in the days ahead. But what does it all really mean, at least for the senior care market? Other than share prices tanking for the few remaining publicly traded providers, as well as the REITs which, at least until recently, were supposed to trade more like bonds, the one takeaway can be summed up in a word: caution. But we had sort of sensed this about two months ago, given the nature of the transactions in the market. But will a sense of caution curtail the vast development pipelines that we hear about? Too early to tell, and... Read More »Excessive Use Of Ultra-High Therapy in SNFs
A recent story highlighted the dramatic rise in ultra-high therapy use in SNFs, but are there legitimate reasons for it? Two days ago, The Wall Street Journal had a front page story about the sudden increase in the percentage of patient days in skilled nursing facilities using “ultra-high” therapy, which is a maximum of 720 minutes per week. Apparently, in 2002, nursing facilities gave ultra-high therapy to patients on 7% of the days they billed to Medicare, but this increased to 54% of patient days by 2013, with the percentage increasing every year. The gist of the story was that providers have been gaming the system to get the highest reimbursement. I had hoped we were getting beyond... Read More »Senior Care Market In Confused State
Stocks are gyrating wildly, sometimes for good reason and other times not so much. Okay, I have to admit that I am confused now. When Brookdale came out with poor second quarter results, its stock tanked, as it should have. But then Capital Senior Living came out with a very upbeat quarter, and its stock jumped 10%, as it should have, but then dropped by 15% over the next several days, for little reason, other than perhaps in sympathy with Brookdale shareholders. Genesis Health announced a good quarter, and its stock jumped by 10%, as it should have, and kept on rising to a 26% gain in a week when the market as a whole tanked. Hell, it didn’t even budge when China devalued its currency. ... Read More »Schedule a demo
Gain access to the best healthcare and long-term care investment intelligence, data, and analysis.
