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 691 licensed nursing homes in Florida, representing approximately 84,448 beds (Source: Agency for Health Care Administration)
• The estimated number of residents is 71,000 (roughly 85% occupancy at any given time)
• There are 3,080 licensed ALFs in Florida, representing approximately 106,103 beds. (Source: Agency for Health Care Administration)
• The median annual cost of care for a private room in a nursing center is $100,375; $89,297 for semi-private room (Genworth Cost of Care Survey).
• The median annual cost for care for a private room in an assisted living facility is $48,000 (Genworth Cost of Care Survey).
• Medicaid, which covers health care costs for low-income individuals, pays for approximately 60 percent of all long-term care spending.
• Medicare, which covers rehabilitation services after an individual is discharged from a hospital, pays for 19 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

• Long Term Care Quality in Florida and the United States: Trends and Current Status (February 2019)
• Kaiser Family Foundation Report: Florida is a Leader in Nursing Home Staffing
• Florida ranks #1 for nurse staffing rates among the nation’s 10 most populous states, and 9th overall.
• Florida’s long term care centers require the nation’s highest level of direct-care hours (3.6) per resident per day — well above the national median of 2.5.
• Florida consistently ranks strongly in both current data and the improvements made over the years. Looking at the four national rating and award indicators used by CMS to assess states’ overall quality care performance, Florida leapt from 16th in the nation in 2014 into the Top Ten (7th) by 2018.

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 $27.07 billion of Florida’s economy.
• Contribute to nearly 286,149 jobs (direct, indirect and induced) and support $10.43 billion in labor income through employment of both direct caregivers and support staff (i.e, food service, maintenance, social workers)
• Generate over $3.62 billion 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

• Florida Department of Elder Affairs Demographic Profiles & Statistics
• Persons age 65 and older currently make up about 20 percent of Florida’s population.
• By 2030, more than one in four Floridians will be part of this age group.
• Florida adds a quarter-million additional residents each year through 2030, and the majority of these new residents – 57 percent of them – will be age 60 and older.
• Between 2015 and 2050, the age 85+ population is projected to more than triple.

Reports & Publications

• FHCA 60 Years of Caring Report