‘A health care cliff’
Washington has seen 25 nursing homes close since 2017, a loss of more than 1,000 beds, according to industry statistics provided by Alyssa Odegaard of LeadingAge, an advocacy organization representing not-for-profit nursing homes and assisted living facilities. That’s a significant decline for an industry serving about 18,600 people.
About 63% of nursing home residents are insured through Medicaid, and the program’s low reimbursement rates are driving nursing home operators out of business, said Odegaard, LeadingAge’s vice president for public policy. Medicaid reimbursement rates — about $274 a day — don’t come close to covering the costs of care in Washington. That gap between revenues and expenses
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