Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. I can no longer care for my parent at home. I need to find a long term care arrangement, but I don't know where to begin. How can I best determine whether she needs a nursing home, assisted living, or some other type of care?
A1. Use the Long Term Care Assistant to answer ten simple questions about your parent’s situation. This feature will guide you to the appropriate type of care.
Q2. My mother is about to be discharged from the hospital. I've been told I need to find her a long term care facility. What help can the hospital provide and how do I begin narrowing our choices?
A2. The hospital's discharge planner should provide a short list of available options; however, those options may include facilities with both high and low quality ratings. That's why you may want to consider other facilities in addition to the ones provided by the discharge planner. And that's why you should consult CalQualityCare.org to see how each facility is rated. Finally, taking the time to call and tour possible options can lead to a better quality provider.
Q3. How can I get information on the different payment options?
A3. Once you have used the "Find" function to locate an individual facility, go to the "Facility Profile" link to get an idea of which payment arrangements it accepts.
Q4. What if I want to care for my parent at home? What are my options?
A4. The first thing you need to do is "Learn" about the various home care options: how to choose the right care, prepare for home care, understand the payment options, and manage problems with a care provider. On this Web site you can find information about home health care, hospice services, adult day health care, and adult day care centers. In some cases, in-home support with meal delivery may be the best option. CalQualityCare provides additional resources on community services.
Q5. What’s the fastest way for me to learn about care providers in my area?
A5. Use the CalQualityCare "Find" feature to search for long term care providers based on location, provider name, or type of care. This will help you locate the selected services in your area. Note the category for different kinds of services available (care at home vs. care in a facility). To narrow down the types of facilities, uncheck the boxes. To change your search area, use the map navigation tools and then click the "update map" button.
Q6. How much does the average California nursing home charge?
A6. Long term care facilities, commonly called nursing homes, provide housing, meals, skilled and intensive medical care, personal care, social services, and social activities to people who have physical or behavioral conditions that prevent them from living alone. Cost of care in one of California's nursing facilities averages $220 a day, or about $80,300 a year.
While some people can afford to pay this bill alone or with help from family members and insurance payments, an increasing number get financial help from Medi-Cal and other government programs — especially if the stay is a lengthy one. By reading the "How to Pay for Care" page in the "Learn" section, you can learn about the various issues around payment, including using personal and family assets, checking for Medicare and Medi-Cal eligibility, and applying for long term care insurance.
Q7. Other Web sites offer information about long term care and nursing homes. What makes CalQualityCare different?
A7. Unlike other online resources, CalQualityCare is completely independent, with no commercial relationships that might bias ratings systems. The data are collected exclusively from federal and state agencies. (See the Data Sources page.) Sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation, CalQualityCare is a free resource that provides ratings of California long term care providers throughout the state, and helps you choose among options like nursing homes, home health agencies, and assisted living facilities.
Q8. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has its own rating system for ranking nursing home quality. How does CalQualityCare’s rating system compare?
A8. CalQualityCare's ratings include California-specific information that is not included in determining the CMS rating. Specifically, the CalQualityCare rating incorporates state citations, complaints, and incidents; more comprehensive staffing information; and staff turnover rates. (Read About the Ratings.)
Q9. Some of the data on CalQualityCare dates back a number of years. Why is this?
A9. CalQualityCare employs all of the most recent publicly available data. The site is updated quarterly with any new data that becomes available.