Interesting Facts About Long Term Care In Florida
Florida nursing homes are serving increasingly diverse patient base and providing a greater variety of acute care, rehabilitative and
convalescent services that cannot be delivered elsewhere.
Key Facts
- There are 683 licensed nursing homes in Florida, representing approximately 83,587 beds (Souce: Agency for Health Care Administration)
- The estimated number of residents is 73,000 (roughly 85% occupancy at any given time)
- There are 3,089 licensed ALFs in Florida, representing approximately 92,000 beds. (Souce: Agency for Health Care Administration)
- The median annual cost of care for a private room in a Florida nursing center is $94,900*
- The median annual cost for care for a private room in a Florida assisted living facility is $37,200.*
- Nearly 40 percent of long term care spending is paid for by private funds.
- Medicare, which covers rehabilitation services after an individual is discharged from a hospital, pays for 19 percent of all long term care spending.
- Medicaid, which covers health care costs for low-income individuals, pays for approximately 60 percent of all long-term care spending.
- Accounting for about 40 percent of total expenditures on nursing centers, Medicaid’s payments cover the care of more than half of all nursing home residents.
- Medicare patients have short rehabilitative stays – 33 days average
- Medicaid and private pay patients have long lengths of stay – 386 days average
- Florida has one of the lowest over-65 population to nursing home population ratio in the country
Quality Trends
- Kaiser Family Foundation Report: Florida is a Leader in Nursing Home Staffing
- Florida centers staff Above the National Average – 4.6 hours per patient per day
- Florida nursing centers rank 8th in total reported Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) hours per patient per day
- Florida nursing centers rank 12th for total reported Nurse staffing hours per patient per day
- Since 2001, staffing in Florida nursing centers has increased from 1.6 to 2.6 CNA-to-Resident hours per day
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration…
- “Since the end of 2011, the use of antipsychotic drugs in Florida has fallen by nearly 10 percent. According to federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Florida has not only moved ahead of the national average overall, but also experienced one of the biggest declines in the use of these medications in the country. (March 23, 2018)
- Since 2011, Florida nursing homes have shown strong results and/or improvement in a host of quality measures, including those related to infections, falls, pressure ulcers, wandering, physical restraints and the use of antipsychotic medicines. (March 12, 2018)
Economic Role of Long Term Care Facilities in Florida
- Support an estimated $20.2 billion (2.7%) of Florida’s economy
- Contribute to nearly 259,250 jobs and support $9.1 billion in labor income through employment of both direct caregivers and support staff (i.e, food service, maintenance, social workers)
- Generate over $2.3 million in state and federal tax revenue
- Long term care centers contribute to other businesses through a ripple effect, with each nursing home job resulting in two additional jobs or nearly $5 of added economic activity within a local community.
Future Needs for Long Term Care
- 2017 Profile of Older Americans, Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging (April 2018)
- By 2026, the population of Americans ages 65 and older will double to 71.5 million.
- Between 2007 and 2015, the number of Americans ages 85 and older is expected to increase by 40 percent.
- Among people turning 65 today, 69 percent will need some form of long-term care, whether in the community or in a residential care facility.
- By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long term health care. (HIAA, “A Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance”, 2002)
Above information provided by the Florida Healthcare Association.