Nursing Homes – Medicare and Medicaid

Many building structures in the United States are especially built to house elderly people who need care. There are variations in the types of facilities considering the level of care supplied, but the structural designs are almost similar. The terms “home” and “facility” are often used to refer to single building structures with multiple units while “community” pertains to a certain land wherein many building structures are built or units are individually constructed. Nursing homes are among the buildings where elderly people, mostly with an average age of 85, are sent to be given appropriate care. However, not only elderly people receive care in nursing homes. Most of the time, a division in the building is intended for younger adults who have special conditions or disabilities. These nursing homes resemble the intensive level of assisted living for retired individuals. There are specific places in the country like Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where nursing homes and retirement communities are built. In these places, senior citizens who no longer have families to care for them or whose children are busy with their own families can take advantage of the care given in nursing homes, especially when it comes to health care. Nursing homes are funded by the government through the contribution given by the citizens to Social Security and Medicare. There are two types of program that citizens can get in their later years: Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is a government program intended for senior citizens who paid for it while they were employed. The social security fund is utilized for eldercare facilities like Pittsburg retirement communities Medicaid, on the other hand, is a government program for the poor who weren’t employed and did not have opportunity to pay contributions for Social Security and Medicare. This differs from Medicare in terms of level of service. In fact, the name of the nursing home funded through Medicare is “Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF),” while that of Medicaid is “Nursing Facility (NF).” Either can be found in any retirement communities in PA A typical nursing home in retirement communities in PA has a team of skilled professionals such as nursing aides and assistants, nurses, physical and speech therapists, social workers and more. These professionals have specific tasks dependent on the program which the nursing home is participating in. But most of them intend to provide similar forms of services for both Medicare and Medicaid.