Opportunities and Challenges in Seniors Housing and Care
Conferences abound with opportunities in seniors housing and care, but challenges exist as well. So, I have been in New York City the past two days at a new conference being put on by iiBIG, formerly known as the International Institute of Business Information & Growth. I believe this is the first seniors housing and care-dedicated conference in New York City for several years, which is surprising given the large number of providers and properties within a 200-mile radius. I moderated one panel and spoke on another, and while the title of the conference is “Opportunities in Senior Housing & Care,” there are also a lot of challenges in today’s market. Just look at what has been... Read More »
The Sky Is Falling, At Least At Skyline
Over the past couple of years, we have been watching as a company called Skyline Healthcare seemed to come out of nowhere to becoming a national operator of skilled nursing facilities with perhaps 120 or more facilities under management. This has occurred in a very short period of time, and many of their properties came from Golden Living, as that company, after some run-ins with various state regulatory agencies, switched from being an operator to a landlord. To do that, you need a lot of providers to step in and lease your buildings, or maybe a few to take over operations for a lot of them. It looks like Skyline became a go-to provider for them. Two states, however, have taken over... Read More »
Immigration and Labor
The seniors housing and care industry needs more low-skill immigrants, but is that really the best long-term solution? The New York Times ran a full-page story Monday on why a constant flow of low-skill immigrants is important for the seniors housing and care industry. Apparently, it is getting increasingly difficult to find locals to fill the growing need for caregivers. I have two conclusions about what’s going on. First, many immigrants come from countries where there is a different attitude towards the elderly, call it more respect and more compassion. That is why they often make excellent caregivers. On the flip side, I think there is more ageism in this country than people are... Read More »
MedPAC Margin Myopia
Too much focus on Medicare margins results in MedPAC’s recommendations ignored every year. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) does a lot of worthwhile research as it relates to health care and Medicare. But the commissioners must get tired of banging their heads against the wall year after year when it comes to their recommendations to Congress for Medicare payments to SNFs. For years, they have believed Medicare payments to nursing facilities were too high, and every year recommend cuts or no increases. This year was no different. MedPAC recommended no increase in SNF payment rates for two years. This was partly because they believe Medicare margins are too high, and... Read More »
Brookdale, HCR ManorCare and NIC
Two major companies make decisions, one with a path forward and the other still unclear, and they will be the talk of Dallas at the NIC conference. As the senior care investing world descends on Dallas today for the Spring NIC conference, the giddy tone of the newcomers may be sobered by the recent events at Brookdale Senior Living and HCR ManorCare. Brookdale was the worse story, with its share price now down 80% from three years ago. The announcement last week that HCR ManorCare will submit a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of landlord Quality Care Properties was not a surprise, but just confirmed that the skilled nursing sector has a long struggle... Read More »Schedule a demo
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