• You can't get into private-pay facilities that don’t accept Medicaid patients.
  
  
• Medicaid pays very little for home health care, so being on Medicaid in many states means being in a nursing home regardless of your true need.
  
  
• Medicaid pays less than private-pay rates in most states, so waiting lists can be long in many states for Medicaid patients.
  
  
• You have to go wherever there is a bed, which could be hours away from your family.
  
  
• If a facility doesn’t accept Medicaid and you run out of your own money, you can be required to move to a facility that accepts Medicaid, and that's a hard situation for families to deal with.
  
  
• Nursing homes that operate with predominantly Medicaid patients don’t have as much funding as private-pay facilities to upgrade services, furnishings, etc.
  
  
• You simply don’t have as many choices as a private pay patient--a private room, for example, is not allowed-- because as a Medicaid patient, you aren't paying the bill.
  

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