If an aging parent needs nursing home care, he or she is better off entering as a “private-pay” resident, paying the full posted rate, rather than as a Medicaid participant. Although there should be no discrimination among nursing home residents, private-pay patients have a broader choice of homes and they are more valued once they’re in a nursing home. With Medicaid, a federal-state welfare program, residents have to go where there’s a bed available, even if that bed is far from friends and family.
Personal funds or long-term care insurance benefits may be used to pay for stays at a higher-quality nursing home. Insurance benefits or personal assets may run out, though. After such a “spend-down,” the resident may receive Medicaid benefits to pay for a continued stay in the familiar nursing home.
Nurses and other employees are not informed when a resident goes from private-pay to Medicaid. Therefore, residents probably won’t notice any change of care if they switch over to Medicaid.