care options -nursing homes
Print this page
- A Spy In the Nursing Home by Eileen Kraatz
- Medicare's Nursing Home Compare
- Medicare's Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home
A simple, well-organized book that is a must-read for anyone scouting out a nursing home. Insightful and wise.
Plug in your parent's zip code to find a list of local nursing homes. The site offers a star-rated list of available options, with info from state inspections as well as from the nursing homes themselves.
This booklet is terrific and a must-read. It details how to find and compare nursing homes, how to pay for nursing home care, your nursing home resident rights, etc.
Who Pays For Long-Term Care?
Not Medicare. Medicare generally only pays for short-term care for rehabilitation purposes.
There are three basic ways to pay for long-term care:
For short-term care, Medicare covers 100 days in a “skilled-nursing facility” and only after three consecutives days (which does not include the discharge day) in a hospital, and Medicare will only pay for services provided by Medicare-certified facilities. For the first 20 days, Medicare covers 100% of the cost. The next 80 days, your parent is responsible to pay $148.00 per day, which likely will be picked up by his or her secondary ("gap") insurance, and Medicare covers the balance. The national average median cost for a skilled-nursing facility, according to The Genworth 2015 Cost of Care Survey, is $212 per day for a semi-private room and $240 per day for a private room. The survey is a great reference for a state-by-state breakdown of care costs – nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, in-home care, etc.
If your parent has a Medicare Advantage plan or another type of Medicare health plan – like an HMO or PPO – then your parent may be covered for long-term care in a nursing home. Apparently, some nursing homes have arrangements with specific HMOs and PPOs, and these are worth checking out. Also, importantly, if your parent’s a veteran, there are all kinds of benefits available. To find out more about veteran’s benefits, call 800-827-1000.
For more information generally about paying for care, check out our Medicare-Financial section.
There are three basic ways to pay for long-term care:
- your parent would use his or her own financial resources,
- long-term insurance, if your parent has a policy, or
- Medicaid, if your parent qualifies, and, generally, Medicaid only covers nursing homes, though some states now pay for assisted-living facilities as well. The nursing home business office should be able to answer your eligibility questions.
For short-term care, Medicare covers 100 days in a “skilled-nursing facility” and only after three consecutives days (which does not include the discharge day) in a hospital, and Medicare will only pay for services provided by Medicare-certified facilities. For the first 20 days, Medicare covers 100% of the cost. The next 80 days, your parent is responsible to pay $148.00 per day, which likely will be picked up by his or her secondary ("gap") insurance, and Medicare covers the balance. The national average median cost for a skilled-nursing facility, according to The Genworth 2015 Cost of Care Survey, is $212 per day for a semi-private room and $240 per day for a private room. The survey is a great reference for a state-by-state breakdown of care costs – nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, in-home care, etc.
If your parent has a Medicare Advantage plan or another type of Medicare health plan – like an HMO or PPO – then your parent may be covered for long-term care in a nursing home. Apparently, some nursing homes have arrangements with specific HMOs and PPOs, and these are worth checking out. Also, importantly, if your parent’s a veteran, there are all kinds of benefits available. To find out more about veteran’s benefits, call 800-827-1000.
For more information generally about paying for care, check out our Medicare-Financial section.
Here’s an idea from the FDA: When the doctor is writing out a prescription, ask to have the name spelled out, and write it down, along with the dosage directions, right there in the doctor’s office. Take these notes with you to the pharmacy to prevent any mistakes that might possibly result from the pharmacist’s not being able to decipher the doctor’s handwriting.
