Nursing Homes and Skilled Nursing Facilities
What Patients Need Skilled Nursing Care?
Although many people use the term “nursing home” as a catch-all for any type of long-term care community, skilled nursing is actually a specific level of care that is meant to stabilize a patient’s health. Nursing facilities, sometimes referred to as SNF, provide 24-hour care from registered nurses and physicians. They are the highest level of care a person can receive outside of a hospital setting. For patients in need of this level of care, nursing homes are a necessity. In regard to cost, Medicare and/or health insurance generally cover skilled nursing care. However, Medicare and private insurance typically only pay for skilled nursing care for a limited amount of time. Skilled nursing homes have residents who are rehabbing from serious injuries and elderly people who require around the clock care. Some patients suffering from the later and most severe stages of Alzheimer’s disease also reside in skilled nursing facilities because of the expertise that is required to care for these patients.
What Nursing Homes Are Like
When your loved one moves into a skilled nursing home, you can expect to hear about how the facility is very “hospitalish.” It is regrettable that so many seniors feel uncomfortable in skilled nursing facilities, but they are there because they need the care. With so many medical professionals working together, so many rules to follow, and with care requirements that vary from patient to patient, a little bit of bureaucracy is unavoidable. If you know someone who is or will have to have a stay at a skilled nursing facility, try to be supportive. Presenting things in the best possible light will go a long way to making your loved one appreciate that they need the care that they are receiving and will improve their outlook on their situation.
Having A Skilled Nursing Plan
If your loved one needs skilled nursing care, it’s important to remember that the nursing home is not always a long term solution. Your insurance provider will likely pay for a finite number of days of skilled nursing care and only if skilled nursing care is still medically necessary. Senior Planning will work with you with your loved one is still in skilled nursing to find a care solution and put it in place in advance of their discharge date from skilled nursing. Making sure that things are in place after a skilled nursing discharge can ensure that the progress made during a rehabilitation is preserved.
Give us a call or submit an information request to let us know more about your specific situation and how we can help
Frequently Asked Questions about Arizona Nursing Homes
How do I pick the right nursing home?
Picking the right nursing home or any other level of care does not have to be hard. Senior Planning has worked in the valley for over 10 years helping families choose care options. Whether you are looking for an Arizona skilled nursing facility, a group home, memory care, assisted living, or simply in-home care, we can help. Also, if you need help funding your care, give us a call today to learn more about the benefit options that might be available to you. Depending on medical need and military service, there are state and federal benefits that might be available.
What does a skilled nursing facility do?
Oftentimes people looking for skilled nursing are surprised that assisted living communities and group homes can offer adequate care. Most Arizona group homes can provide directed care, which means they help with toileting and incontinence, bathing, dressing, feeding and making meals, transferring from the bed to a wheel chair, help getting out of a chair to a walker, memory issues, and much more. Nursing homes specifically help with wound care and injury rehabilitation; although home health agencies may be able to assist wound or physical therapy patients.
How to pay for Skilled Nursing after 100 days
For those that need long term care in an Arizona skilled nursing home facility, Arizona Long Term Care (ALTCS) is the way to go. If skilled nursing is beneficial to a person’s quality of life, ALTCS will pay for the duration of a patient’s life. ALTCS is a benefit run by Medicaid and applicants must meet certain financial and medical requirements before being accepted to the program. Many people find the application process time consuming and difficult, but Senior Planning offers a robust application service to assist with every step of the process.
Will Medicare Pay for a Nursing Home?
Arizona Nursing homes, also known as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), offer skilled nursing care, long-term care, and rehabilitative services. Patients are usually admitted after a stay in a hospital. In order to have Medicare pay for rehab or skilled nursing, a person must have been in the hospital for at least three midnights. Medicare will pay for up to 100 days in a benefit period if the patient continues to meet Medicare’s guidelines regarding the necessity of skilled nursing. After a person gets better, or is no longer making progress, Medicare stops paying even if the 100 days have not been met.