Who Receives Postacute and Long-Term Care?

​In 2013, home health agencies provided postacute or long-term care services to the greatest number of people, at 930 home healthcare users per 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries, followed by skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), at 670 users per 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries, reports an article in the July 2016 JAMDA. The article examined the population receiving postacute or long-term care in various settings using data from literature searches, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the National Nursing Home Survey, and the Nursing Home Data Compendium. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of SNFs grew very little, while the number of home health agencies increased by 50%. However, the number of covered days of Medicare-reimbursed care in SNFs increased nearly threefold between 1990 and 2011, and the number of people who received Medicare-reimbursed home healthcare increased as well. Meanwhile, care reimbursed by Medicaid remained mostly constant in both settings. Over the past few decades, the diversity of the nursing facility population has increased in regard to age, gender, race and ethnicity, and marital status.