Startling facts about long term care:

• One national study projects that two out of every five people over age 65 will spend time in a nursing home.
• Nationally, the average cost of nursing home care is more than $50,000 per year.
• Medicare only covers about 12% of nursing home costs, and only 11% of home health care costs.
• Medicaid pays for nursing home care only after you have spent down your savings and other assets to required levels.
• Neither Medicare nor Medicaid pay for assisted living facilities.
• Most long term care costs are not paid by Medicare or Medicaid, but from your own savings and income.

In Massachusetts:

• There are 535 nursing facilities, with an average of 103 beds per facility.
• There are 51,000 nursing facility residents and 55,000 employees providing their care.
• On average, nursing home residents receive 3.7 hours of nursing care per day.
• During the past four years, nursing facilities have lost more than $143 million.
• The losses cut across all types of nursing facilities, including proprietary, family-operated, not-for-profit, governmental, freestanding and hospital-based.
• 47 nursing facilities (over 3,300 beds) have closed in the past two years.
• Medicaid pays between $10 and $15 less per day than it costs to care for the average nursing home resident.
• Less than one in four nursing facilities receives Medicaid rates sufficient to cover the cost of caring for residents.

FAQs