Report: $440 Million Would Test Every Resident and Staffer in U.S. Nursing Homes

It would cost nearly $440 million to test every nursing home resident and staff member in the United States once for COVID-19, according to data collected by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL).

The AHCA has also warned that regular testing of nursing home residents and staff members would be almost impossible without support from federal and state funding. Due to the differing amounts of residents and staff members in each state, some states would see a multi-million dollar bill for testing.

States with numerous residents where it would cost the most to test nursing home residents and staff members include California ($36,381,000), New York ($33,955,950), Florida ($25,305,300), Ohio ($24,950,250), and Illinois ($21,441,150).

Areas with fewer residents and staff members where testing would be cheaper include the District of Columbia ($755,850), Hawaii ($1,229,550), Deleware ($1,340,250), Montana ($1,383,750), and Idaho ($1,415,700).

“For months now, we have been advocating for expanded and priority testing in nursing homes to protect our residents and caregivers, but this is a significant undertaking and cost for nursing homes to shoulder on their own,” said Mark Parkinson, President, and CEO of American Health Care Association and National Center of Assisted Living.

“That’s why we have asked HHS to grant our request for a $10 billion emergency relief to help fund expedited testing and the additional staffing needed to respond to this unprecedented health crisis,” Parkinson added.

The AHCA has also insisted that initial payments be made to each facility based on the number of residents and its size. In its recommendation, the association concluded that if a facility has 50 and under licensed beds, it should receive $50,000. Facilities with between 51 and 100 beds should receive $100,000, facilities with between 101 and 200 beds should receive $150,000, and facilities with more than 200 beds should receive $200,000.

The AHCA and the NCAL also issued a joint statement to The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and Federal Emergency Management Agency:

A facility with COVID-19 positive residents would also receive an additional payment in the same amount as reflected above, to target buildings with an outbreak of any size. With all nursing homes now required to submit this data to CDC on a weekly basis, it allows for identification of these facilities more readily. Of the 15,000 Skilled Nursing Facilities in the U.S., the average initial payment would be around $120,000 for a total of $1.8 billion. Of those, roughly 5,000 have COVID-19 positive residents today, so the cost of the additional payment would be $600 million. A $10 billion fund would allow these payments to continue for three to four months. While there is likely a more targeted way to distribute funds, we need help immediately.

We encourage HHS to use this formula, or another simple one, and then perhaps, consider a more targeted approach after the first month. We respectfully request that HHS and FEMA provide this urgent request for funding and additional supplies to help the long term care profession during this unprecedented public health crisis to protect our beloved residents and heroic caregivers. What we need now is to rally around nursing homes and assisted living communities the same way the public health sector has around hospitals.

The data collected by the AHCA and the NCAL does not include the cost to test residents and staff at assisted living facilities and other long term care locations across the country.