Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care In America
America is aging and it’s projected that nearly half of all Americans who
pass their 65th birthday will enter a nursing home or other long-term care facility. How
do you find a facility for your loved one that offers high-quality care and is affordable?
Finding a quality nursing home can be difficult when the need is made urgent by a critical
illness. This week NPR looks at nursing homes and long-term care in a five part
series, "Leaving Home For the Last Time: Long-Term Care In America.” In part
one, NPR’s Wendy Schmelzer reports for All Things Considered on how families choose a
home for their loved ones. 
- Leaving Home for the Last, Time Long-Term Care in America
Nearly half of all Americans who pass their 65th birthday will enter a nursing home or
other long-term care facility. The care isn't cheap, and high quality isn't guaranteed.
Leaving Home for the Last Time: Long-Term Care in America, provides insights into possible
solutions for our nation's long-term care issues.
The Search for the Right Home
Monday, December 14, 1998 All Things Considered
It's never easy to find the right nursing home for an elderly person.
Difficulties arise when children live far away, money is tight or the need for a home is
made urgent by a critical illness. Today, more than 1.5 million Americans live in one of
17,000 facilities devoted to long-term care. Most are frail elders or the disabled. Many
were living in precarious situations before they became too ill to care for themselves or
to live with relatives. In this piece, NPR science correspondent Wendy Schmelzer looks at
two situations played out again and again. One family has been given three days to place
mother in a nursing home because she cannot remain in the rehabilitation facility because
there is no money left for her care there. In another family, the situation is less
urgent, but is a ticking bomb - the father has Alzheimer's and clearly cannot remain at
home under the care of exhausted relatives.
Improving the Quality of Nursing Homes
Tuesday, December 15, 1998 All Things Considered
To be in a nursing home means depending on the staff to make sure you are
properly fed and cared for, but decent treatment doesn't always happen. Comprehensive
studies of nursing home care are limited, but those that have been published suggest that
neglect and abuse are still common. There have been some improvements documented in recent
years. As NPR health policy correspondent Joanne Silberner reports in part two of our
series, federal regulations have been a long time coming in the nursing home industry.
Their effect is uneven. That's led many to call for even tighter regulation of the
industry. But officials say that would force many homes out of business and leave some of
the most vulnerable people in America with even fewer options for care in the twilight
years of life.
How to Pay for Nursing Home Care
Wednesday, December 16, 1998 All Things Considered
A stay in a nursing home can wipe out the savings of an elderly person in a
matter of months. A year of care can run higher than a year at Yale or the cost of a BMW.
Many seniors are stunned to learn that Medicare -- the federal health program for the
elderly -- pays their nursing home bills only in limited cases. And once they've spent
their savings, they often have to fall back on welfare -- in the form of Medicaid.
As NPR's Neva Grant reports in the third part of our series, seniors are slowly becoming
educated about the high cost of nursing care. But some of the solutions they seek are
raising ethical questions.
Nursing Home Alternatives
Thursday, December 17, 1998 All Things Considered
Most families, experts say, would like to keep an ailing loved one out of a
nursing home. And many states, burdened by multi-billion-dollar nursing home costs, also
want to forestall or even eliminate nursing home stays. Over the past few years, Florida
has become more aggressive in looking for ways to help families avoid
institutionalization. There, 19 percent of the population is over 65, and experts estimate
that about 400,000 older Floridians suffer from Alzheimer's disease. That's one of the
primary reasons that elders end up in a nursing home. In part four of our series, NPR
health policy correspondent Wendy Schmelzer reports that adult day-care centers and
respite care are providing a solution to part of that state's problems.
The Business of Nursing Homes
Friday, December 18, 1998 All Things Considered
With more Americans now living into their 80s and 90s, nursing homes have become
big business. The nation spends more than $70 billion each year to keep about 1.6 million
people in nursing facilities. Most are run for profit, and increasingly they are
part of national chains. But there's unrest in the nursing home world. Many facilities say
it's increasingly difficult to make money on the elderly residents who have been their
traditional customers. In the final part of our series on nursing homes, NPR's Jon
Hamilton reports that nursing homes are reconfiguring their businesses to attract other
types of patients -- making it more difficult for seniors with limited incomes to find a
bed.
Resource Information: Check out our list of helpful Web sites and resource information,
including answers to some frequently asked questions.
