Finding out About Nursing Home Performance

There are approximately 1.5 million elderly people living in nursing homes in the U.S., and we spend about $72.5 billion annually in tax dollars to subsidize the cost of nursing home care.

Any nursing home receiving federal funding must go through periodic inspections to assess whether the facility meets certain safety and quality of care standards. Unfortunately, too many facilities that get cited for serious deficiencies fail to make adequate improvements.

If you are in a nursing home, or you have a loved one in a nursing home, you have the right to know how well that nursing home is performing. Some of the resources you can look to for this information are:

• Medicare Website called "Nursing Home Compare"
• U.S. Department of Health, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• California Nursing Home Ombudsman Information
• California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
• AARP Website

I hope this information is helpful. Thanks for reading!