Consulting firm Plante Moran analyzed CMS Medicare cost reports from more than 12,000 facilities for its “2025 Skilled Nursing Facility Medicare Benchmarking Report.”
Here are nine things to know from the analysis:
- Skilled nursing facility data is presented in the report as a U.S. national average and in eight regional averages. Regional averages varied widely for each data point.
- The national average of Medicare beneficiaries discharged to skilled nursing facilities was 18% in 2023, which was consistent with the 2022 average.
- The national average length of stay for Medicare beneficiaries after discharge to a skilled nursing facility decreased from 8.97 days in 2022 to 8.65 days in 2023.
- The national average length of stay at skilled nursing facilities decreased between 2022 to 2023 from 144 days to 140 days. The national average length of stay of Medicare beneficiaries remained unchanged at 44 days.
- Nationally, skilled nursing facility utilization was lower for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries at 44.8% compared to 55.2% Medicare fee-for-service.
- The national average occupancy rate was 77% in June 2024, lower than the pre-pandemic average of 80%.
- The national average net margin of skilled nursing facilities increased 1.7 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, from -2.69% to -0.97%.
- The national average earnings of skilled nursing facilities, before interest, depreciation, and amortization, increased 2.2 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, from 6.4% to 8.6%.
- The payer mix for skilled nursing facilities was 57% from Medicaid, 31% from private or other payers and 12% from Medicare in 2023, relatively unchanged from 2022.
Access the full report here.
