Estimating the extent of Medicaid spend-down in nursing homes.
Although it is commonly thought that a very high proportion of private-pay nursing home patients become eligible for Medicaid during their stay, few national studies have been conducted to determine the extent of Medicaid "spend-down." The discharged resident survey of the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey was analyzed to determine the extent of spend-down among elderly nursing home patients during a single nursing home episode, the proportion of patients who remained Medicaid or private payers throughout their stay, and how the measures varied by patient characteristics. Overall, during a single nursing home episode only 10 percent of nursing home patients who entered as private payers received Medicaid at discharge. Roughly one-third of nursing home patients remained on Medicaid throughout their stay, and another third remained private payers throughout their stay.
Spence
D A
DA
Brookings Institution.
Wiener
J M
JM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000191:economics*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014481:United States