Low-Income Patients More Likely to End Up in Low-Quality SNFs

Dually eligible individuals are more likely than others to find themselves in low-rated skilled nursing facilities, recent research has found.

According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, more than 50 percent of dually eligible individuals – those covered by both Medicare and Medicaid – who are admitted to skilled nursing facilities are served by facilities that have low (one or two stars) ratings under Medicare’s five-star quality rating system for nursing homes.  Overall, the dually eligible are 9.7 percentage points more likely than patients not on Medicaid to be served by lower-rated facilities.

The education of those individuals and their distance from higher-quality facilities are the two leading reasons.  According to the study, lower-quality skilled nursing facilities are more likely to be located in or near low-income communities.  Health status and race also are contributing factors.

Learn more in the Journal of Applied Gerontology article “Medicaid and Nursing Home Choice:  Why Do Duals End Up in Low-Quality Facilities?” and from the McKnight’s Long-Term Care News report “More than 50% of dual-eligibles end up in low-rated SNFs, study finds.”