Lawyers who profit from the situation blame the nursing homes. Towey said 15 insurance companies have left the Florida market and only five carriers remain to cover the state's nursing homes. Nursing home care is expensive. Most of the cost is paid by the government, through Medicare and Medicaid. Paying patients must pay their own huge costs and also pick up the deficit between what the government pays and the actual cost, which is almost always higher.
Elderly patients are frail and subject to bruises, falls and other problems.
That is a factor in many of the lawsuits threatened or filed against nursing homes. It is a cycle. Some nursing homes cannot afford to hire enough staff or pay enough to get the most qualified. People don't want to work under the constant threat of litigation accusing them of being negligent, or worse. Even trial lawyers agree the staff problem is acute.