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Florida's Advocate for Long Term Care Providers and the Elders They Serve

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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

According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration…

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