Mark your calendars. The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s highly anticipated middle-market study — which NIC believes is the first study to look at both the housing needs and the healthcare needs of those older adults — will be published April 24 in Health Affairs, according to NIC.
“NIC is calling it ‘The Forgotten Middle,’ ” NIC Chief Economist Beth Burnham Mace said Friday at the organization’s 2019 Spring Conference in San Diego. “What we’re trying to do is look at the size of the middle-income seniors [market] today and in the year 2029.”
The study will profile the middle market in terms of demographics and their anticipated needs related to care for chronic conditions and assistance with activities of daily living, she said.
“We’re really focused on a cohort that has too much in resources to qualify for government support, but they’re not going to be able to afford most of the options out there today, at least not for very long,” said Robert Kramer, NIC founder and strategic adviser.
“The thesis, from NIC’s point of view, is that the government alone can’t take care of this big cohort,” Mace said. “The private sector has to step in.”
Related to the study’s release, NIC will host an event in the nation’s capital that will focus on policy, “to try to draw the attention of legislators to this important issue,” she said.
Almost a month later, on May 21 in New York City, the organization will host a summit to discuss with investors and debt providers the opportunities that exist related to the middle market.
“We’re going to be talking about investment return potential. We’re going to be talking about how you actually make a more affordable product. How do you figure out a product that has a lower rent threshold?” Mace said.
Participation is limited for the summit; a wait list already exists, she said.
Mace and Kramer emphasized that the study is meant to show the demand for middle-market seniors housing, not offer solutions.
“That’s not NIC’s role,” Kramer said. “But we want to shine a national spotlight on this cohort and the need to figure out solutions.”
“Our hope is … that this study will start the discussion,” Mace said, adding that NIC is “pretty excited about it.”
NIC will continue the discussion at future meetings, she said. “This is going to be a theme for NIC for the next several years,” Mace said.
Expect to see related educational sessions at the Fall Conference, set for Sept. 11 to 13 in Chicago, as well as next year’s Spring Conference, set for March 4 to 6 in San Diego.
