2008 Nursing Facility Data

Steve Gold's Information Bulletin #271 (12/08) In the previous bulletin, #270, we provided 2008 Nursing Home Data Compendium regarding characteristics of people in nursing facilities. Here is some institutional data about the those facilities. 1. Size of Institutions: In 2007, there were 16,072 nursing facilities (down from 17,183 in 1996). 86% had more than 50 beds. Nursing facilities with 100+ beds made up 49%of the total facilities. (Table 1.1.(e)). These are institutions - not homes. We should call them what they are. 67% (10,774) of these facilities were For Profit, 27% (4,324) Non-Profit,and 6% (974) Government owned and controlled. (Table 1.2(e)). When a Government-owned nursing facility segregates people with disabilities who wish to reside in the community, this should be immediately stopped. Check out how many Government owned, controlled, and funded facilities are in your state. The 100+ bed nursing facilities have more than 2..2 million beds, where the less than 50 bed facilities have only 273,375 beds. Therefore, the largest institutions (50+ beds) control 92% of the total nursing facility beds. (Table 2.1). 2. Age of residents: The national breakdown by residents' ages is interesting. (Table2.5.(e)). A. Nationally, persons ages 0-30 comprised 0.5 % (nearly 16,000 persons)of the total number people who were in nursing facilities in 2007, and UT, IL, AK, and AZ had the highest percentages (0.8%+) of people under 30 throughout the country. Why do states have any persons under 30 institutionalized, let alone nearly 16,000? Who are these very young people? How were they institutionalized? What services would they require to reside in the community? B. Persons ages 31-64 years comprised 12.9% (412,324) of the total residents during 2007, and AK, IL, NV, AZ, LA, UT, CA, and OH had the highest percentages (i.e., 15%+). We're now nearly 10 years after the Olmstead decision. Why have these states not successfully transitioned these younger persons back to the community? Does anyone in your state even have the responsibility to look into this, let alone provide the services? C. Persons 65-74 years made up 15.8% of the total number of residents,and AK, DC, and UT had the highest percentages (i.e., 20%+) in this age category. State agencies must recognize that all persons, regardless of their age, should be offered community-based services. 3. Beds and State Populations: One way to compare your state's nursing facility industry with other states is by the number of beds per 1000 state residents.(Table 1.5). Nationally, there were 5.6 nursing facility beds per 1000 state residents. The states with the most nursing facility beds per 1000 were Iowa (11.3), ND, and NE, and those with the fewest beds were Alaska (1.1) and NV. Nursing facilities have an enormous financial incentive to have as many beds as they possible and to fill as many as they can. Disability and elderly advocates should have the opposite incentives, especially since the occupancy rate of nursing facility beds averages is 83.8%. 4. Occupancy rates: Occupancy rates varied a lot. (Table 1.4). In 2007 83.8%f the beds were occupied, as compared to 85.9% in 1996. The states with the least occupied beds were OK (65.7%)and OR (66.4%); the states with the most occupied were SD (100%),VA (93.4%), DC (95.5%) and RI(92.3%). The following states had fewer occupied beds for EACH of the past four years than the national average of unoccupied nursing facility beds: AZ,AR, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, MO, MT, OK, OR, TX, UT, and WY. Why have not states decertified clearly unnecessary nursing home beds,closed them down, and use the saved funds for significantly expanding community-based services. They do NOT need so many unoccupied nursing facility beds. Why is there such an enormous spread among the states with most occupied and least occupied?