Problems mount One in five of the state's nursing homes is on the brink of bankruptcy, according to an article in The Florida Times-Union Sunday that highlighted two of the nation's most pressing problems.
Nursing homes blame underfunded government programs and litigation for the problems.
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.