Medicare's website offers a wealth of information to help you evaluate options for long term care.
Compare nursing homes
You'll find a tool to compare over 17,000 nursing homes and retiree care facilities in all fifty states. This tool provides detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.
Search by state or county, city or zip code, or facility name. (Searching by name produces the least reliable results.) Searching by state works well with the Retiree Housing Locator. To search by state, go to the Medicare search tool and follow these steps on the Medicare website:
- Select "State" under "By Geography" in the first yellow box
- Select a state from the drop-down menu in the second yellow box
- Click "Next Step" in the lower right-hand corner of the box.
Download free 'Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home'
For help asking questions and assessing the nursing homes you visit, download Medicare's Nursing Home Publications. See chapter 4 for a nursing home checklist.
Order free Medicare publications
You'll find more than 100 free publications on the Medicare website. Downloading them is the fastest way to receive them, but you may order copies by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users, call 1-877-486-2048.
Some of the following booklets are available in Spanish, Braille, Large Print, or audio cassette:
- Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home
- Choosing a Hospital
- Choosing Long Term Care
- Medicare Savings Programs
- Medicare & You
- Medicare Coverage of Skilled Nursing Facility Care
- Medicare and Home Health Care
- Medicare Hospice Benefits