One in five nursing homes receives government's lowest evaluation and rating

The Associated Press reported on December 18, 2008, that fully 22 percent of all nursing homes flunked their government evaluations in 2008, receiving only "one star" on a "five star" rating system.    Nursing homes provide care to 1.5 million patients, and the data used in the rating was derived from Medicare and Medicaid records.   Even this data is potentially skewed by reliance upon "self-reporting" of staffing levels, for example. 

By Medicare's rating system, "one star" equals an evaluation of "much below average".   In several southern states, more than thirty percent of homes were rated "much below average".   The ratings are available on the web at Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Web site:  http://Medicare.gov/NHcompare.