Articles and Blogs

Medical Properties Trust will lease its $1.2 billion Utah hospital portfolio to CommonSpirit Health following CommonSpirit’s acquisition of Steward Health Care System’s Utah operations. Centura Health will manage the facilities, and the lessee will have the option to purchase the facilities at the higher of FMV or MPT’s gross investment at 5, 10, and... READ MORE

HHS OIG issued a report finding “significantly reduced” improper payments to acute care hospitals, as compared with prior years. OIG found that $39.3 million in Medicare Part B payments should not have been made during 2016-2021, which was a decrease from $51.6 million in improper payments during 2013-2016. CMS has claimed that aggressive corrective... READ MORE

Hurricane Ian forced 16 Florida hospitals to evacuate, although only a few hospitals sustained any major damage per NBC news. American Healthcare REIT plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. The REIT owns 313 health care facilities in the U.S. and U.K., as well as a controlling interest in Trilogy Health... READ MORE

The leading driver of large employer health care costs are cancer, musculoskeletal conditions and cardiovascular disease according to a new survey of large employers across the country. Employers cover 82% of employee health care costs and health insurance costs increased 8.2% last year for large employers. The Economist released its list of the Best... READ MORE

An article in GlobeSt. touted the benefits of the “modern ground lease” as a compelling financing option for real estate construction. While the current financing landscape has made sale/leaseback transactions between developers and investors a more attractive option of late, nonprofit health providers can get the added benefit of working with a nonprofit capital... READ MORE

CMS released a roadmap for ending the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (“PHE”). CMS will be terminating numerous regulatory waivers that were put in place to offer flexibility to health care providers during the pandemic and will give notice to providers 60 days before ending the PHE. Fitch published its mid-year outlook for non-profit hospitals.... READ MORE

Last week, a number of stories broke that impact health care real estate. The Federal Reserve increased its incremental borrowing rate for the third time this year. The rate increase will impact borrowing rates and could impact the number of new transactions that take place this year. In other news, a bill passed by... READ MORE

Last week, a number of M&A headlines made the news. SSM Health closed a large physician practice acquisition. Healthcare Realty also announced that it will joint venture (“JV”) 27 properties as part of its merger plan with HTA. Kaufman Hall noted that M&A activity is up in the health care sector. A number of... READ MORE

Last week, CMS issued a proposal that would change how post-acute providers are paid for their services. The proposal drew negative feedback from trade associations. A number of prominent physician organizations issued a call to action urging payers and policy providers to increase funding and training offered to primary care providers so they can... READ MORE

Last week, CMS announced a new hospital provider status for rural hospitals. A significant number of rural hospitals have closed over the past decade. CMS created the new provider status in an effort to preserve rural hospitals. In other news, South Carolina is exploring a minor modification to its Certificate of Need (“CON”) law... READ MORE