Eli's Hospice Insider

Look to a development for SNFs and hospitals to see what might be coming down the pike for hospices next.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services “is releasing data publicly — for the first time — on mergers, acquisitions,consolidations, and changes of ownership from 2016-2022 for hospitals and nursing homes enrolled in Medicare,” CMS says in a release. “This data is a powerful new tool for researchers, state and federal enforcement agencies, and the public to better understand the impacts of consolidation on health care prices and quality of care,” the agency says.

“By improving the quality of reporting by hospitals and nursing homes on ownership and consolidation, we also advance President Biden’s agenda to promote competition, lower health care costs for American families, and protect patients,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says in the release.

“Hospital and nursing facility consolidation leaves many underserved areas with inadequate or more expensive health care options,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says in the release. “This new data gives researchers, state and federal enforcement agencies, and the public new opportunities to examine how mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, and changes of ownership impact access to care, care quality, and prices as a way to enable greater transparency and insight into the hospital and nursing home industries.”

CMS plans to update the data quarterly, it says.