The COVID-19 pandemic has not resulted in the forecast financial damage for the long-term care industry, according to data reviewed in a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics.
Anecdotally, organizations such as the American Health Care Association have maintained that the COVID-19 pandemic seriously affected nursing homes’ bottom lines in spite of government help, the authors said. Researchers David Kingsley, Ph.D., and Charlene Harrington, Ph.D., RN, looked at financial data provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission and found that to not be the case for the nursing homes they evaluated, however.
The authors reviewed data from Brookdale Senior Living, Diversicare, The Ensign Group, Sabra Healthcare REIT and Omega Healthcare Investors. Brookdale is the largest senior living company in the country, but only 3% of the company’s approximately 700 communities offer skilled nursing; the other companies’ portfolios in the study are much heavier in skilled nursing by comparison.
“In terms of net income, all but two companies reported higher net incomes in 2020 compared to 2019. In addition, the cash-related metrics reported by publicly listed companies including the REITS, except for three companies, improved in 2020 in relation to 2019,” they wrote.
Seven of the 11 companies studied experienced the same revenue in 2020 as in 2019. The authors assert that state direct grants, loans, and deferral of taxes may have offset most of the losses for the four companies that experienced loss year over year.
“Despite statements suggesting severe financial problems for the nursing home industry, the data on publicly traded companies do not show insolvencies, bankruptcies, and severe losses of overall industry revenues,” the authors wrote.
