Provider Relief Fund monies wane for life plan communities in 2021: Ziegler

Life plan communities received comparatively small amounts of Provider Relief Fund aid in 2021, as program money wanes. No meaningful additional funds are expected going forward in 2022, according to specialty investment bank Ziegler.

Outside of the PRF, some individual borrowers have grant applications outstanding with organizations such as the Department of Agriculture and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but Ziegler does not expect those programs to materially affect the industry as a whole.

Fifty-seven percent of the borrowers surveyed by Ziegler said they received a Paycheck Protect Program loan during fiscal year 2020, with the median amount received equating to 32.5 days cash on hand. Many borrowers still will be amortizing PPP funds in fiscal year 2021, and a handful will be doing so into fiscal year 2022. According to Ziegler, the cohort of borrowers expected to experience the greatest degree of financial/accounting impact from the pandemic in fiscal year 2021 are those with a fiscal year end date of March 21 through June 30, due to timing.

Expense reductions no longer in play

“Going forward, with occupancy improving in recent quarters, and with restrictions generally easing, previously implemented expense reductions may no longer be in play,” wrote authors Lisa McCracken, director of senior living development and research, and Mike Vitiello, vice president of credit surveillance and analytics. 

As Provider Relief Fund aid wanes for operators, expenses, particularly related to labor challenges, are expected to increase significantly from here on out, they said. Some providers already have raised fees to offset increased expenses, but “they will be challenged to raise fees to cover the entire cost of increased staffing in the near term,” according to Ziegler.

Senate bill would ease PRF requirements

To help long-term care and other healthcare providers, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced legislation this week. The Provider Relief Fund Improvement Act would delay complex PRF reporting requirements until after the end of the public health emergency and extend the use of PRF dollars to enhance workplace safety. Read more about the bill in this article McKnight’s Senior Living article.

To date, the PRF has allocated more than $178 billion in payments to more than 410,000 providers across the country.