Across rural parts of the country skilled nursing facilities are struggling, and growing numbers are faltering in the face of many problems.
Among the challenges they face are:
- difficulty passing health and safety standards
- evolving health care policies that encourage people to remain in their homes instead of choosing to enter nursing homes
- growing proportions of patients covered by Medicaid
- the failure of Medicaid payments in many states to cover the cost of nursing home care
These challenges are especially acute in rural areas. Today, many regions have enough skilled nursing beds, at least on paper, but they are not necessarily where people need them, requiring many families to place members in facilities hundreds of miles from home.
Learn more about the challenges that both nursing homes and those who need nursing homes face in rural America in the New York Times article “Nursing Homes Are Closing Across Rural America, Scattering Residents.”