Facts

• There are almost 16,000 nursing homes in the US averaging 106 beds, which add up to about 1.7 million licensed beds (81% occupancy rate).
• 95% of all beds are both Medicare and Medicaid licensed and 2/3 of all nursing homes are for profit.
• 85% of nursing home residents are over the age of 65 with 2/3 of them female.
• Median length of stay before death is 5 1/2 months (male – 3 months and females – 8 months). Being married and wealthy will usually cut your length of stay average in half (people have theorized that more support at home makes nursing home life tougher to handle on the individual).
• A typical nursing staff of a nursing home is composed of 65% aides (no formal education), 23% Licensed Practical Nurses and 12% Registered Nurses.

Cost

• $75,000 is a good average annual price and nationally Medicaid picks up 60% of nursing home costs while private pay and LTCI takes care of the rest. 

Choosing A Nursing Home

• Get suggestions from family and friends, use referral agencies and geriatric care managers but most of all, please do your homework. Make appointments but also make an unscheduled visit and ask lots of questions.

Action Step: Just like everything in life there are good and bad nursing homes, so do your homework because nobody likes leaving a family member in a place that does not feel comfortable.

Golden Nugget: Some nursing homes accept Medicaid payment while others do not. The Medicaid reimbursement is less than private pay and almost all of the nursing homes that accept Medicaid will limit the number of “Medicaid Beds”. You can ask the nursing home how many beds are Medicaid beds and if few, they can be very difficult to secure.