Nursing home ownership: an historical analysis

The need to care for dependent elderly in the United States has been a constant since colonial times. Today, as in the earliest days, most care is provided at home by family members. Personal and health services outside the home are sometimes provided by nursing homes. The nursing home industry is large, dominated by private, for-profit ownership, and receives much of its income from public funds. Why are nursing homes publicly funded? Why are nursing homes privately rather than publicly owned? Why is ownership for-profit or proprietary rather than not-for-profit or voluntary? The answers to these questions are found in the history of social policies in the United States.