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If the time comes to find a nursing home for a loved one, you may conduct research on a website called “Nursing Home Compare” at Medicare.gov. The database includes all Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes in the U.S. |
To start the search, you input the location of the nursing home and may include the nursing home name. The program gives detailed information about nursing homes, which allows comparing the quality of care and staffing.
Certain icons have recently been added to the website to inform consumers about abuse at a nursing home. If a nursing home was cited for potential issues regarding abuse, a red icon with a hand is shown next to that nursing home name. A different icon with an exclamation point indicates that a nursing home has a history of poor care and may need increased oversight and enforcement.
Nursing homes in New York cost between $12,000 and $20,000 a month. Very few people can afford the high cost of 24-hour skilled nursing care provided by nursing homes. Although both Medicare and Medicaid may pay for the costs, the two programs differ significantly.
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older or for younger people with disabilities. Medicare will pay for short-term nursing home stays for rehabilitation purposes to help improve a health condition or maintain a current health condition.
If a patient has a qualifying stay in a hospital for a minimum of three days, Medicare will pay for rehabilitation costs in a skilled nursing facility for up to 100 days. Medicare fully pays for the first 20 days and then partially pays for the next 80 days. The patient has a co-pay for the 80 days paid either from their own funds or possibly through secondary insurance coverage.
Medicaid is a joint federal and state insurance program for medical care for needy people and is also the main source of payment in the country for middle class people for long-term stays in a nursing home. To qualify for Medicaid for nursing home costs, an applicant must comply with complex rules governing which assets the applicant may keep, and which of the applicant’s assets are available to pay for nursing home costs. Each state administers nursing home Medicaid, so eligibility rules vary from state to state.
It is heartbreaking to move a loved one to a nursing home. In addition to the frustrating rules involved in the government paying for nursing home care, finding an acceptable nursing home is another overwhelming task for the family. The Compare Nursing Home website helps in the search by giving critical information about safety or the lack of it for vulnerable patients in nursing homes.
