About 70 percent of the elderly will require some type of long-term care services during their lifetimes, and more than 40 percent will need nursing home care. At any given time, about 1.5 million people live in one of the nation's 15,000 nursing homes. Nursing homes are heavily regulated by the federal and state governments, which pay for about two-thirds of all residents through the Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Medicare programs (pricetag: $75 billion a year.) Assisted living, however, is governed by different rules in each state and is generally paid for with private dollars. In the future, financing care for Baby Boomers will be a challenge, since most people don’t buy long-term care insurance. For-profit corporations own about two-thirds of all nursing homes and report a higher average number of licensing deficiencies than homes owned by nonprofit organizations.
Statistics, Trends and Research
Prepared by the largest trade group of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
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Medicare’s assessment of each nursing home, including scores on quality measures and findings from annual state inspections; searchable by name and location. More detailed results of inspections are available by request from Medicare or state health agencies.
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This site highlights good and bad nursing homes for each state, based on federal data. The site was created by a doctor concerned about poor quality.
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For-profit company rates and tracks nursing homes. Charges a fee for reports. Some of this information is available for free from other sources, such as Medicare.
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The California Health Care Foundation provides an overview of the long-term care landscape in California
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List of average prices of levels of care, including nursing, assisted living and in-home help for all 50 states.
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Public Policy
The section on long-term care and chronic care focuses on cost, quality and the need for change – all at the state level.
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The section on long-term care and chronic care focuses on cost, quality and the need for change – all at the state level.
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Staffing, neglect, fire safety and quality improvement are among these advocates’ top priorities.
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Links to federal and state assisted-living policy issues.
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This coalition of 11 professional associations and nonprofits issues regular reports on key issues.
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The CHCF offers two reports from 2002 on residential care facilities for the elderly that are still relevant and helpful.
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Advocacy
Federation of state organizations representing nursing home and assisted living providers, both for-profit and nonprofit; the largest trade organization.
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Full of resources for reporters and consumers, including links to ombudsmen in each state, recent studies and policy issues.
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Trade group for nonprofit nursing homes, assisted living residences, adult day services, home health and community programs.
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The professional association of assisted living facilities offers a consumer checklist for evaluating facilities.
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This nonprofit provides information on California long-term-care facilities of all kinds, as well as policy issues and legal guidance; fact sheets on how to choose and evaluate a facility.
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Grass-roots campaign against abuse and neglect in long-term-care facilities focuses on employees who were sex offenders or have criminal records.
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The granddaddy of reform initiatives, aimed at making the nursing home experience less institutional; adopted by hundreds of homes.
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A coalition of providers and family members working to "reinvent" nursing homes.
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Movement, aided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to establish small, home-like nursing facilities scattered in communities.
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Alliance for Health Reform policy brief with overview, sources and weblinks.
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