The (already) high cost of skilled nursing care continues to rise and nursing home owners keep buying more facilities

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According to a recent report, the average cost for skilled nursing care for the calendar year of 2015 was nearly $90,000 per nursing home resident, 12% higher than in 2014. This astronomical sum of money is a huge economic burden on any family, no matter how hard they have saved over the course of their lifetimes.

It appears, however, than the economic misery imposed by the high cost of skilled nursing care results in another sector of the economy (the individuals and corporations who own and operate skilled nursing facilities) enjoying a banner year of acquisitions of even more of these facilities.

In 2015, the combined factors of high investor demand, very low interest rates and a glut of available investment capital resulted in 357 publically announced acquisitions in the so-called senior care property market, an 18% increase over the number of acquisitions in 2014.

Not surprisingly, while public company stock prices had what can only be described as a terrible year, the price paid by investors for nursing facilities skyrocketed, as will the profits these owners expect to reap from their investments in this market.

And when nursing home residents are unable to pay for their care, these costs are borne by the States, through Medicaid payments financed by taxpayers.

The reality is that the nursing home industry is big business, and the increased cost to the nursing home resident and their families does not translate to higher quality care for these individuals.