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This is fantastic. The nursing home industry is dirty and sad, with for-profit groups squeezing every cent they can out of seniors who can't advocate for themse
by brindlejim 3y ago
This is fantastic. The nursing home industry is dirty and sad, with for-profit groups squeezing every cent they can out of seniors who can't advocate for themselves, out of their families, and ultimately out of the taxpayer. They do that by poorly staffing their homes, and by creating networks of other legal entities that charge the home money so it doesn't make a profit.
For example, a holding company might own the nursing home operator as well as the building owner who charges them exorbitant rent, or the service providers selling into the home. If I had one piece of advice for someone with aging parents: find a non-profit home if you need a home at all. The sisters of mercy, the Jewish community homes. For-profit nursing homes are to our era what insane asylums were to the 19th century. A horrifying disgrace.
- alamortsubite 3y agoI agree, but does Sisters of Mercy provide skilled nursing?
- wutwutwat 3y agoCompared to which other nursing home? If you're going to take a jab at something you should compare it to what you consider "skilled nursing" Doesn't matter where you go, a nurse still requires state licensing and testing... The workers doing all the grunt work are STNAs, or, state tested nursing assistants, which again, doesn't change regardless of facility.
- alamortsubite 3y agoI think you misunderstood me, or I'm not sure how you got the impression I'm taking a jab at anybody. TFA pertains to nursing homes (a.k.a. "skilled nursing facilities"), not personal care homes or assisted living. Sisters of Mercy seems to fall under one of the latter categories, so the poster to which I responded may have conflated the two. Obviously, Sisters of Mercy has nurses (who are skilled) working for them. I was only curious whether they provide care that can't be obtained at an assisted living facility, such as IV meds and ventilators. But they aren't listed by the ProPublica tool, so that probably answers my question.
- reaperman 3y ago“Skilled nursing” is an industry term for the services provided to elderly people who are not able to live semi-independently, and need daily nursing care for health issues or significant degree of mental decline.
- Spooky23 3y agoYes. Do you find skilled nursing in this facilities? No.
- candiddevmike 3y agoThis is where the government could step in and provide nursing homes. They already end up paying for most of it via Medicare, why not have more control over quality and standards. You could even trial it via a (much needed) VA nursing home program for vets
- SoftTalker 3y agoI'm not sure the VA is a good example to hold up. Aren't VA hospitals notorious horror shows?
- sarchertech 3y agoVA hospitals have outperformed private hospitals in patient satisfaction for at least a decade. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1181827077/va-hospitals-health-care https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1181827077/va-hospitals-healt...
- oooyay 3y agoI'm curious how those surveys are administered. If they're not surveying patients that walk away or don't get treatment then they aren't really capturing the full picture. Unlike private hospitals the VA is obligated to serve all veterans and it's the portion that they miss or manage out that became problematic national news. There's a reason Obama passed legislation allowing veterans to seek outside care and it wasn't always wait times. It also had to do with VA guidelines, standards, and practices which very much differ from private care.
- sarchertech 3y agoIt’s possible that all kinds of things skew the results. It’s possible that veterans are more likely to report that they are satisfied in general. But there have been numerous studies comparing the VA to private hospitals that show the VA tends to be safer and more effective as well as having higher satisfaction scores. >There’s a reason Obama passed legislation… People are constantly complaining about other health systems like Kaiser and private insurance companies as well. The VA is the countries largest health network and veterans are a very symptomatic group. My guess is that if you changed history so that Kaiser was in charge of veterans healthcare, with the same guidelines and standard of care they use today, you’d have seen a similar law passed.
- yieldcrv 3y agoNon profits engage in profit prioritizing ways as well Removing shareholders is a good incentive model, but the organization still needs to be evaluated on their efficacy
- nradov 3y agoNon-profit nursing homes are a great option for many people. But they usually have long waiting lists. And many are unable to deliver the necessary level of care for patients with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Those patients often have behavioral problems and are difficult to manage.
- ww520 3y agoEven the non-profit ones are really expensive. E.g. Jewish Living in SF has ~$15K/month for long term skilled nursing care. It's a very good one but has a long waiting list. Assisted living and nursing home are just very expensive. The prices around the Bay Area ranges from $5K/month to $20K/month.
- Thlom 3y agoHoly baloney that's expensive. What can you do when your elderly parent is suffering from dementia and can barley walk anymore and neither you nor they have that kind of money to spend?
- 2devnull 3y agoBankruptcy. Not for the elderly person, because elderly have protected federal income. But bankruptcy for the children who are on the hook due to filial responsibility laws in most states.
- ww520 3y agoAssisted living or skilled nursing homes are for the “rich.” People sell their home to finance the cost. At the end Medicare picks up the cost.
- randito 3y agoIn some states, there is something called a Lady Bird Deed. It lets people keep their homes while still being eligible for Medicaid. Plus, it avoids the probate process. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/estate-planning/lady-bird-deed https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/estate-planning...
- ChuckMcM 3y agoIt doesn't seem very "complete" in that Nevada was listed as having exactly 4 nursing homes?
- rl3 3y agoSeems accurate. The rest are likely just classified as casinos.
- ChuckMcM 3y agoThis is such a perfect comment, it seems snarky and yet a Casino has so much in common with a nursing home, constant surveillance, on site medical team, "activities" and "food" 24/7, and if you spend (lose :-) enough money they will give you a place to sleep for "free."
- FireBeyond 3y ago> squeezing every cent they can out of seniors who can't advocate for themselves, out of their families, and ultimately out of the taxpayer. They do that by poorly staffing their homes Absolutely. I work as a paramedic. It is utterly infuriating to see nursing homes whose policy (they claim their liability insurance, but I suspect it is often laziness) is to call 911 for anything bigger than a bandaid and expect us to take care of everything going on... ... while there's a huge billboard out front, "Round the clock nursing care!" and they're happily billing the patient/family five digits a month. And then I search a few in my area that are the worst offenders, and find that several have been repeatedly sanctioned for "failing to have an RN supervising care" (so you have maybe an LPN watching over a couple of dozen CNAs...)
- IG_Semmelweiss 3y agoI'll add another adjacent niche: Addiction & recovery and mental health centers. Sometimes you win and you get better, but it comes at a very very steep cost (and there's no refund, of course).