Last week the insurance industry group Genworth released an annual report that showed returns for home health care in Oklahoma fell in 2015 compared to previous years. But the costs for all healthcare segments in Oklahoma are going up, and the price of home healthcare rose 2.5 percent over last year.
That’s related to a nationwide trend of rising home care costs as Medicare providers try to keep chronically ill patients out of hospitals, The Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports:
[Ross Home Health owner Hank] Ross said it’s difficult to find enough home health aides to meet the demand. But he can’t increase his prices, because he receives fixed payments from federal health agencies to provide services. So that means revenues are declining, he said.
Some of that federal money goes into what’s called the Advantage Waiver program, which is basically a voucher for home care instead of nursing homes for patients who qualify. The Journal Record’s managing editor Adam Brooks says Oklahoma’s budget crisis has made the home healthcare industry tougher, but long-term they’ll probably be fine.
“The Medicare-eligible population is expected to double by 2030. Ross is expanding his business so that he can get a share of that money. Really the whole industry sees this as a growing market,” Brooks said. “In fact, the expansion might be causing part of the problems now because as everybody increases their business to get their share of this money, the price drops for patients. There's just a little too much supply in some cases.”
Swanky Storage
A few months ago The Wall Street Journal had a feature story about luxury storage units. Some have kitchens, wood floors, seating areas. And one developer is trying to bring this concept to Oklahoma City.
Chris Carllson’s Garage Condos of Oklahoma has a unique business model – customers will buy the space rather than rent it, and the units can be finished with wireless internet and sheetrock walls.
“They're not looking for dusty boxes of elementary school awards,” Brooks said. “They're looking for people who have vintage vehicles or boats or RVs that they need to store.”
The facility in Edmond has a model to look to for guidance. A company called GarageTown USA has more than a dozen locations in the western U.S. and Canada. Real estate executive Jim Rose told Terry-Cobo he couldn’t think of any similar developments in Oklahoma:
The vice president and retail broker at Newmark Grubb Levy Strange Beffort said Edmond and north Oklahoma City are good places to find people who have money and are looking for a place to store their vehicles other than their home. Carllson said there are financing options, but Rose said he thought the target audience probably didn’t need to finance a luxury storage unit. “If it’s a hobby and they have a collection, they’ll be able to pay for it,” Rose said.
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