Be warned. Shaming language....
http://goo.gl/4jVPNn“The population is shifting faster than the ability of nursing homes to deal with them,” said Cheryl Phillips, a senior vice president at LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of services for older adults. “We don’t have adequate staff. We don’t have adequate equipment. We don’t have adequate knowledge.”
The percentage of those entering American nursing homes who are moderate and severely obese — with a body mass index of 35 or greater — has risen sharply, to nearly 25 percent in 2010 from 14.7 percent in 2000,according to a recent study, and many signs suggest the upward trend is continuing.
But as demand from severely obese patients surges, nursing home administrators say they cannot afford to care for them, because Medicaid, which covers more than 60 percent of all nursing home residents, does not reimburse them for the specialized equipment required: motorized lifts; larger wheelchairs, bedside commodes and shower chairs; and longer intramuscular needles and blood pressure cuffs. The devices are expensive: $10,000 for a mechanical lift, for instance, and $5,000 for an extra-wide bed.
“It’s really not a moneymaker,”