A new report offers compelling information about the critical role nursing homes play in Pennsylvania—and how best to support them.
The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston just released a new report that presents updated information on key demand and supply factors affecting the performance of nursing homes in Pennsylvania. The study was funded by The Jewish Healthcare Foundation.
“Our objective is to develop compelling information about the critical role that nursing homes play in the care of older and vulnerable adults in Pennsylvania, document the trends that have been affecting both the demand for and supply of nursing home care, including changes in Medicaid reimbursements, and highlight the projections over the coming years that will affect the utilization and financial viability of nursing homes in the state,” write authors Edward Alan Miller, Molly J. Wylie, Elizabeth Simpson, and Marc A. Cohen.
The Case for Funding: What is Happening to Pennsylvania’s Nursing Homes presents nursing home data covering the period of 2010 to 2019. Pennsylvania had 713 nursing homes at the start of this period, and by 2018 this number had only declined slightly (2.8%) to 696 homes, according to the report. The majority of Pennsylvania nursing homes are dually certified to serve both Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
There are currently about 88,000 certified nursing home beds in Pennsylvania, the authors report. This figure has decreased only slightly over the past decade. Even so, the total number of nursing home residents in the state declined by 5.9% during the study period, resulting in lower occupancy levels overall, the authors report.
“As new data becomes available for the period including the current pandemic, it is reasonable to expect further closures, even as the potential demand for nursing home services due to population aging alone is likely to increase,” they write.
A separate document presents key findings from the study in four succinct, fact-based infographics describing how:
- Nursing homes are now serving individuals who have particularly challenging diagnoses and, increasingly, these individuals are drawn from less-wealthy populations.
- Demand for nursing home care has been declining, but is expected to grow even as nursing home closures increase.
- Staff hours and compensation have stayed relatively constant, making it difficult to provide high-quality care and to recruit, retain, and train direct care workers.
- Nursing homes are increasingly dependent on Medicaid financing, leading to a growing gap between reimbursement levels and what is needed to meet resident needs.
“The status quo financing of nursing homes in Pennsylvania is not sustainable,” conclude the authors. “Unless the reimbursement rates paid by the Medicaid program are brought more in alignment with the costs of providing high-quality care in a safe manner, providers will be unable to care for the commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents, and already strained family caregivers will be that much more burdened.”