Ohio Nursing Homes are Among the Nation’s Worst
By Barry Zimmer on August 31st, 2017 in Medicaid
Ohio nursing home planning is vitally important because as many as 70 percent of people who reach the age of 65 will end up requiring nursing home care, according to the Wall Street Journal. If you end up needing long term care in a nursing home, either on a long-term basis or temporarily after a medical emergency, you want to make certain that you have a way to pay for the care, which insurance, including Medicare, likely won’t cover unless you need skilled care.
You’ll also need to ensure that you have done your research in advance to find the right care facility where you can live safely and where you will be treated respectfully. Zimmer Law Firm can help you to do you research into nursing homes that could provide you with care, which is especially vital if you live in Ohio. Ohioans need to be very careful about the nursing home they select because homes within this state are some of the lowest rated homes in the country when it comes to quality of care services, according to Cleveland.com.
Our firm will assist you with all of the tasks involved with Ohio nursing home planning that you need to complete in order to find a safe place for you or a loved one. From researching a firm’s reputation to reviewing admissions paperwork to getting coverage for nursing home care, we’ll be there to assist you. Give us a call today to find out more.
Ohio Nursing Homes are Poorly Rated
According to Cleveland.com, the low quality of nursing homes in the state of Ohio is considered a “real crisis” for the elderly who live locally and who must seek care. Concerns about care are arising due to federal statistics suggesting the state of Ohio’s nursing homes have the nation’s worst ratings for quality of life.
Nursing home administrators argue that the rankings are actually flawed and don’t respect the reality of the conditions in nursing homes. They claim the rating system simply punishes the homes which happen to take in sicklier residents. National experts disagree, however. The rating system, called Nursing Home Compare, adjusts its ratings to account for the health status of residents and national experts claim the rating system recognizes the good work that many homes do in providing care even when their resources are limited.
If the system is accurate in assessing care quality, the news is really bad for Ohioans who may require nursing home care. At least 41 percent of all of the care facilities in the state of Ohio had a below-average rating, earning just one to two stars. Nationally, only around 35 percent of all facilities have ratings that are this low.
The low quality of care has very real consequences. Over the past three years, at least 31 deaths in nursing homes in the state of Ohio were attributed to problems with the care that the patients received. And this may be underestimating the problem because the records of deaths attributed to care deficiencies require that nursing homes self-report when residents suffer due to quality of care issues.
Ohio laws may be contributing to the low quality of care among nursing home residents. Ohio only requires that 2.5 hours of nursing home staff time are available daily, while many states have much stricter minimum staffing rules. And, Ohio mandates that care aides – who actually provide much of the day-to-day care of nursing home residents – have just 75 hours of training. Other states, like California, require aides to have 150 hours. Understaffing coupled with the absence of training is a clear recipe for disaster and nursing home residents are the ones who pay the price for substandard care.
Getting Help with Ohio Nursing Home Planning
Zimmer Law Firm provides help with all aspects of Ohio nursing home planing so our legal team can assist you with making the smartest and most informed choices about nursing care facilities. Whether you are preparing now in case you need care in the future, are thinking about moving into a nursing home imminently or are helping a family member to move into a nursing home, our firm is here to help you.
Join us for a free seminar to find out more about what is involved in the nursing home planning process or give us a call at 513.721.1513 to get personalized advice on your nursing home plan. Call now and get started so you can reduce the risk that you or your loved one will end up in a poor quality nursing home.