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For the specific skilled nursing facility my relative is at, how can I find the number of Medicaid recipients? Not identities, just the number.

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try both medicare website and your state health department website.
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Some facilities put "quotas" on Medicaid residents. That is, they will not accept more than x% Medicaid, or they need y% self-pay to make a profit at their price structures. Sometimes they have policies that allow a self-pay to become a Medicaid payer if they have been self-paying for a certain period of time. So it can be very fluid. Suddenly several residents run out of money and qualify for Medicaid and now they are way over the quota they have built-in. They may try to accept only self-pay for a while. So what they did last year may not be indicative of what they are doing now.

If this place accepts Medicaid and only has accepted one in recent years, I'd say they are long overdue! Or else they shouldn't indicate they accept Medicaid.
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And, if it isn't self-evident, the reason the ratio of Medicaid to self-pay is an issue at all is because Medicaid pays a predetermined amount that is almost always less than the going rate in a given market. Sometimes considerably less.

A facility might think it is their civic duty to accept Medicaid residents. Or they may realize that if they don't they'll not be able to fill their rooms. But they need to somehow figure out how much income they can count on (more or less) per month or per year so they know what they can afford to pay out.

Say that for the level of staffing and type of food and activities offered, (plus profit if they are for-profit) etc. etc. they determine they need an occupancy rate ot 88% and an average of $135 per day per room. Medicaid pays $85 per day. (THESE ARE TOTALLY MADE UP NUMBERS, just as an example.) If half the rooms are being paid for by Medicaid, that would mean they would need to charge $185 for the self-pay rooms to make their average work out.

This is a crude example and I'm sure it is more complex than this! But obviously the number of people a center accepts at less than the market rate has a big impact on the price to others, on the amenities the center can offer, on staffing, on profit, and on just about all aspects of the business.

I would not want to be the business manager of care centers for all the tea in my favorite tea source plus a huge salary!

Here is a thought: What if Medicaid rates were based on real life costs? What a concept, huh? :)
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An interesting question. Have you simply asked?
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We have been told by the administrator that they have only had one Medicaid recipient in recent years. Seems odd. I have searched the Internet high and low for official statistics. Must be somewhere! Would help to be informed in preparation for upcoming negotiations. I'll try the toll-free number again, though my last foray ended with my leaving a call-back number with--you guessed it--no call back.
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Good insights, jeannegibbs. Thanks!

Still would just like to know the number of recipients, and also what Medicaid has negotiated with my relative's facility as the funded monthly fee. More time on hold is in my future! Seems like this info ought to be public information...
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