In case you missed it, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), released a
report last week that revealed a worsening crisis around the ability of seniors and individuals with disabilities to access the long term and post-acute care they need.
The data from the new report underscores the severity of what nursing home providers have been sounding the alarm on: The economic and government pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with chronic underfunding, have resulted in reduced access to care for our most vulnerable.
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration finalized a federal staffing mandate for nursing homes that would exacerbate the crisis. AHCA/NCAL
found that nursing homes would need to hire 102,000 additional nurses and nurse aides to meet the requirements, putting nearly one-quarter of nursing home residents (more than 290,000 individuals) at risk for displacement when facilities are inevitably forced to further reduce their census or close their doors altogether.
The Access to Care Report findings include:
- Limiting Admissions:
- Forty-six (46) percent of nursing homes are currently having to limit new admissions.
- Fifty-seven (57) percent of nursing homes have a waiting list for new residents.
- Downsizing:
- Since 2020, there are 62,567 fewer nursing home beds.
- Twenty (20) percent of nursing homes have closed a unit, wing, or floor due to labor shortages.
- Closures:
- Since 2020, at least 774 nursing homes have closed.
- These closures have displaced 28,421 residents.
The report also shows there is no single factor that determines whether a nursing home can withstand economic pressures, limited government support, and growing workforce challenges. Since 2020, closures have happened at facilities with 4- and 5-Star Rankings, both at non-profits and proprietary centers, and across urban and rural communities.
For rural communities in particular, the closure of a single facility could lead to devasting consequences for the community. The 2024 Access to Care report found that 40 additional counties in the United States became nursing home deserts since February 2020, with 85 percent of these nursing home deserts in rural communities.
Nursing homes and the seniors they serve need supportive, comprehensive policies that help nursing homes preserve and expand access to care, not a blanket mandate that would be impossible to meet.
See the full report
HERE.