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National Healthcare Corp. (NHC) provides nursing care and rehabilitation through facilities it owns or leases, primarily in the southeastern and midwestern United States. Most revenue comes from care delivered in its facilities, which also include assisted living, independent living and behavioral health hospitals. It also provides care at home and hospice services, including through its wholly owned Caris Healthcare.
Medicare and Medicaid together supply most patient-care revenue; insurers, managed care plans and patients supply the rest. Medicare generally pays for eligible skilled nursing care by the day, while Medicaid uses state-set rates that are generally lower than other payers’ rates. Medicare also supplies most homecare and hospice revenue, paying for homecare by care period and hospice by the day.
The business depends on filling beds, attracting patient referrals and retaining qualified care staff. The mix of patients and payer reimbursement rates shapes what NHC earns. Facilities need licenses and program certifications to operate and receive government payments, and Medicare caps hospice payments, requiring repayment of amounts above those limits.
National Health Investors leases NHC a substantial portion of its skilled nursing and independent living facilities. NHC disputes the landlord’s allegations of lease default and is pursuing renewal; continued access to those properties depends on resolving the dispute and agreeing on lease terms.
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The Ensign Group and NHC face the same pressures on skilled nursing and rehabilitation: occupancy, staffing costs and payments from government programs, managed care and private-pay patients. Ensign’s skilled-services results offer a comparison for NHC, though Medicaid supplied 46.6% of that revenue in 2025 versus 30% of NHC’s net patient revenue.
PACS Group and NHC both care for patients after acute treatment in skilled nursing facilities, so Medicare and Medicaid payment changes and staffing costs matter to both. Watch PACS’s routine care revenue from those programs: they supplied 33.7% and 40.5%, respectively, in 2025, making government payments central to this comparison.
NHC depends on National Health Investors for a significant portion of its skilled nursing and independent living premises, while NHC supplied 10.7% of the landlord’s revenue in 2025. Watch their disputed master lease and negotiations for a five-year renewal beginning January 1, 2027: failure to resolve the dispute or agree acceptable terms could cost NHC occupancy at some or all affected facilities.
The Pennant Group overlaps with NHC in home health, hospice and senior living, including in Tennessee and Georgia, with government programs, managed care and patients or residents paying for care. Pennant’s home health and hospice results offer a comparison for NHC’s homecare agencies and Caris hospice business, particularly as Medicare reimbursement and clinical staffing costs change.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
The Fed’s interest-rate decision signals whether borrowing costs are rising or falling, affecting the interest NHC pays on its variable-rate debt and any future borrowing.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
Higher rates can raise interest expense on NHC’s variable-rate debt and make future borrowing, including use of its revolving credit line, more costly.
If it comes in below expectations
Lower rates can reduce interest expense if NHC’s variable-rate debt reprices and make future borrowing, including use of its revolving credit line, less costly.
The Ensign Group, Inc. earningsENSG
Ensign Group’s report will show whether skilled-care and rehabilitation revenue is keeping pace with labor costs, a comparison for National Healthcare Corp’s inpatient services.
Compare Ensign’s skilled-services revenue growth with changes in labor costs. Firm revenue with slower cost growth suggests demand and payments are covering care labor, a favorable sign for NHC’s facilities; weak revenue or faster cost growth points to pressure on sector margins. Ensign relies more heavily on Medicaid than NHC, so the comparison is informative but not one-for-one.
The Pennant Group, Inc. earningsPNTG
The Pennant Group’s report will show whether home health and hospice revenue is holding up against staffing costs, a read-through for National Healthcare Corp’s related services.
Read The Pennant Group’s home health and hospice revenue alongside clinical labor costs. Revenue holding up while costs rise more slowly suggests payments and service volume are covering staffing, a favorable sign for NHC’s homecare and Caris hospice businesses; weaker revenue or faster cost growth points to pressure on similar services’ margins.
National Healthcare Corp. earningsThis company
National Healthcare Corp’s report will show whether revenue from its care facilities and homecare is growing faster than the costs of staffing and running them.
Read patient revenue alongside operating costs. If patient revenue grows faster, income from facilities and care services is covering staffing and other operating expenses; if costs rise just as fast or faster, they are consuming the growth. That shows whether NHC’s care business is turning growth into operating earnings.
National Health Investors earningsNHI
National Health Investors’ report may show whether its master-lease dispute and renewal talks with National Healthcare Corp threaten NHC’s continued use of the facilities.
Watch National Health Investors’ disclosures on the NHC master-lease dispute and renewal talks for signs of a resolution or agreed terms. Clear progress would improve the prospect that NHC can keep operating at the properties; an unresolved dispute or failure to agree on rent or other terms could put occupancy at some facilities, care continuity and costs at risk. The landlord’s report is a lead, not confirmation from NHC.
PACS Group, Inc. earningsPACS
PACS Group’s report will show how government-program care revenue and staffing costs are changing, a comparison for National Healthcare Corp’s skilled nursing business.
Read PACS Group’s routine-care revenue from Medicare and Medicaid alongside labor costs. Government-program revenue holding up while costs rise more slowly suggests payments and care volume are covering staffing, a favorable sector signal for NHC’s skilled nursing; weaker revenue or faster cost growth points to tighter facility economics. Their payer mixes differ, so PACS’s result is not a direct measure of NHC’s performance.
