Home hospital beds provider SonderCare conducted research into which states offer the best and worst access to good, affordable nursing homes, and the news is not good for Connecticut and New York.
The study examined several factors, including the number of nursing homes and respite facilities per 100,000 residents, nursing home occupancy rates, monthly costs of private and semiprivate nursing homes and the percentage of nursing homes with zero deficiencies. An overall “Care Score” was then calculated based on these metrics to find the states offering the worst access to elderly care.
Connecticut had the fourth lowest score – after California, Hawaii and West Virginia — with a score of 21.25 out of 100. There are 203 nursing homes per 100,000 residents in Connecticut, the 22nd lowest in the United States. There are a total of 43 respite facilities per 100,000 residents, which is the 13th lowest in the country. The nursing homes in Connecticut have an overall occupancy rate of 81%, the seventh highest in America.
A semiprivate nursing home room costs $13,764 monthly, the second most expensive in America. A private nursing home room costs $15,170 monthly, the second most expensive in the country. The percentage of nursing homes in Connecticut with no deficiencies is 1%, the second lowest in America.
New York didn’t fare much better, coming in sixth (behind Alaska) with a score of 21.45 out of 100.
There are 606 nursing homes per 100,000 people in New York, the seventh highest amount in the U.S. There are 208 respite facilities per 100,000 residents, the sixth highest in the country. But the nursing homes in New York also have an occupancy rate of 86%, the second highest in America.
Meanwhile, a semiprivate nursing home room costs around $12,775 per month, the third most expensive in America. The cost of a private nursing home room is $13,233 per month, which is the fifth most expensive. The percentage of nursing homes in New York with no deficiencies is 7%, which is just above the national average.
Massachusetts, Nevada, Delaware and Florida round out the bottom 10. The state with the best access to good, affordable nursing homes is Iowa.
Said Kyle Sobko, CEO of SonderCare: “Providing the best care for the elderly population is more important than ever, given that a growing proportion of Americans are living further into old age than they did previously.
“In fact, the percentage of the U.S. population over the age of 65 has grown by more than four percentage points in the past 12 years, from 13.1% in 2010, to 17.3% in 2022.
“The most surprising finding is that Alaska ranks overwhelmingly as the most expensive state for elderly care, both semiprivate and private. The cost of a room in a private nursing home in Alaska is $31,512 per month, which is $16,300 more than the second most expensive state, Connecticut.
“Missouri, on the other hand, offers the cheapest option for a room in a private nursing home, costing $5,931 per month. That is $25,581 cheaper than a room in Alaska.”
