Skilled Nursing

Big Shifts in Senior Living Care to Come

Five Star Senior Living—a major senior living business with over 1,500 retirement communities—has announced they will exit the skilled nursing business by the end of 2021. Instead, the business is shifting to smaller senior living communities that do not require the same elder care and skilled nursing capabilities. As more businesses like Five Star get out of the senior nursing facility business, it will become harder for elders to obtain long-term care.

What does this mean? Imagine you have a severe stroke. Before Jimmo, most people thought Medicare would pay for physical therapy only as long as that PT was helping you get better. For instance, Medicare would pay if therapy helped increase the number of steps you could walk without assistance. Now, Medicare will pay for PT even if it only helps you maintain your current ability to walk.

Whenever the rules for receiving Medicare benefits change it has a real impact on real beneficiaries and patients. Sometimes legal changes occur literally overnight, while at other times the changes are more subtle. After a landmark lawsuit a year ago, there may be some tangible effects to the system – for the better. This is especially the case when an elderly loved one requires skilled nursing or physical therapy.

The landmark case was Jimmo v. Sebelius. Recently, Forbes explored the legal evolution Jimmo sparked in an article titled “When Medicare Will Pay for Skilled Nursing or Physical Therapy.”

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