If nursing home owners had a choice, they might prefer to see Medicare patients come through the door.
Analysts at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) have published data raising that possibility in a new summary of results from their monthly analyses of skilled nursing facility revenue trends.
(Related: 15 Cheapest States for Long-Term Care: 2017)
The analysis shows that patients who pay their own bills — using their savings, annuities, life insurance policy benefits, long-term care insurance and other personal and family resources — tend to pay only 19% more than patients getting help from Medicaid, and only about 60% as much as patients getting help from Medicare and managed Medicare plans.
Here’s who paid the residents’ bills in the first quarter, along with a comparison to the comparable figures in the NIC skilled nursing facility trends data for the first quarter of 2017:
- Medicaid: 66% of the occupied beds, up from 65%.
- Medicare and managed Medicare: 20%, down from 21%.
- Private pay: 8.3%, down from 9.1%.
Here’s what happened to average revenue per day for the major types of payers:
- Medicaid: $210, up from $200.
- Medicare: $522, up from $508.
- Managed Medicare: $431, up from $428.
- Private pay: $260, up from $259.
NIC has posted copies of the latest skilled nursing facility trends report, and of earlier reports, here.