Provider-owned Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) are one of the newest waves in long-term care. Designed to take control of insurance funding for a special class of residents, I-SNPs have soared from just three a few years ago to 22 or more today. Earlier this year, the American Health Care Association formed a special council to promote their creation, growth and related lobbying efforts. As one of the approach’s pioneers, Marquis Companies CFO Steve Fogg recently spoke with McKnight’s Editor James M. Berklan about how his company’s I-SNP, Age Right Advantage, came to fruition, its challenges and what others can expect if they explore a similar route.
Q: How did Marquis get started with its I-SNP?
A: We went live with an active plan January 1, 2017, but our journey began about 18 months prior. We wanted to signi cantly improve clinical services in our facilities. By having the I-SNP, that provided some of the funding to help pay for the people to make that happen. Being in control of the healthcare dollar and having control of your own destiny are absolutely two of the reasons to do this. Without having the I-SNP and having “long-term livers” in our facility as part of it, we wouldn’t get the funds to help pay for all the things or physicians we wanted. All of the moves to valuebased pay, whether through Medicare or managed care, have led us to upgrade clinical services and drive better outcomes, as well as overall resident experiences. We also saw that having this I-SNP and providing these services to our long-term living population were potentially the best things we could do to maintain or improve our longterm liver occupancy rate. The I-SNP and the clinical services that come with it are important in terms of the supply-anddemand equation.
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