Middle Market Discussions Will Bookend NIC Fall Conference

Building off the momentum, enthusiasm, and focus of NIC’s recently released Middle Market Study, NIC will open and close the 2019 Fall conference with two sessions dedicated to this topic. The study, funded by NIC and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, revealed there is a substantial market that private-pay seniors housing currently is not serving. This is the cohort who do not qualify for Medicaid but may not have sufficient resources to pay for private seniors housing as it exists today. More than half of these individuals are projected to have mobility limitations by 2029 and other health care needs.

In the first session to be held on Wednesday at 3:15 PM CT, “hackers” identified ahead of the event will have worked in small groups to design care and housing solutions for the nation’s middle-income cohort. This so-called “hackathon” event will focus on the practical elements of designing a property to suit this cohort, while meeting business goals. Their resulting proposed solutions will be presented to those in attendance at the session.

In the second session to be held on Friday at 9:00 AM CT, practical solutions from Wednesday’s Forgotten Middle hackathon session will be discussed and debated in a town hall format that will encourage a roundtable discussion among thought leaders and session attendees. Entrepreneurs with imagination and passion are encouraged to attend.

Meeting the care and housing needs of “forgotten middle” seniors will require practical solutions, in the design and construction of new properties and their associated services, as well as in financial structures and the capital stack. Both public and private sectors will need to work together to successfully bring solutions to this challenging opportunity. New thinking may assume greater flexibility from government—on both state and federal levels—on zoning, regulatory restrictions, and potential subsidies. Other factors may include technological cost-savers, more affordable designs, entrepreneurial approaches to public-private partnerships and financial incentives for capital providers. 

Expected discussion topics include:

• How big is the opportunity?
• How can the private sector provide care and housing to this growing cohort?
• Can the private sector do it alone or does it need government assistance?
• What are practical solutions to providing care and housing to this growing cohort?
• Will investment returns need to be adjusted to attract capital to this cohort? Is this a more or less risky opportunity?
• Do underwriting standards need to be adjusted to accommodate this evolving investment prospect? 

Sessions:

• The Forgotten Middle: Understanding a Growing Opportunity
  September 11, Wednesday at 3:15 PM CT
• A Growing Opportunity: Partnerships Working Together for The Forgotten Middle
  September 13, Friday at 9:00 AM CT