• US lawmakers sent letters to Brookdale Senior Living, Ensign Group, and National HealthCare Corporation, three of the largest nursing home companies in the US, calling out their hypocrisy for opposing the new federal minimum staffing rule.
  • “(We) seek an explanation for the discrepancy between (your organization’s) massive payouts in executive salaries, stock buybacks and dividends, and the nursing home industry’s simultaneous opposition — based on claims that they are too expensive — to new rules to increase staffing and protect nursing home residents. These two competing claims do not add up.”

• Ensign Group reported “another record quarter.” The for-profit company stated that it has $1 billion for further investment in the sector, McKnight’s reported.
• CareTrust REIT touts $260 million investment pipeline, according to McKnight’s. CareTrust’s president stated that “we continue to position the balance sheet to capitalize on the consistent, steady flow of attractive investment opportunities.”
• Omega Healthcare Investors reported a successful 2024 Q1 with “higher-than expected interest income.”
• Healthpeak Properties reported a 27% increase in same-store net operating income for its portfolio of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the first quarter.

• The nursing home industry has loudly decried the new minimum staffing standards as unaffordable. “We hope to convince the administration to never finalize this rule as it is unfounded, unfunded, and unrealistic,” said Mark Parkinson, president of AHCA, the nation’s biggest nursing home and assisted living lobby association.
• However, nursing home companies are reporting a different financial situation to investors…
  • “Ensign Group has been on an acquisition spree.”
  • Brookdale Senior Living is seeing its “highest reported adjusted margin rate since the initial impact of the pandemic.”
  • National HealthCare Corporation announced a 3.4% increase over last quarter’s regular common dividend.
  • Sabra reported that its “portfolio continues to grow stronger… [and their] balance sheet remains strong and is poised to support future growth.”
• For more insights, see the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s “Residents’ Advocates Reject Industry Complaints About Nursing Home Staffing Rule.”

“(The) nursing home industry diverts hundreds of millions of dollars in cash away from nursing home staff and patient care, and into the pockets of company executives and shareholders.”

–  U.S. Senators Warren, Blumenthal, and Sanders; U.S. Representatives Doggett and Schakowsky