Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people who live and work in long-term care facilities in the United States. 40% of the nation's Covid-19 deaths have occurred in care homes for the elderly. 7.7% of the nation's nursing home residents, or one in 13, have now died as a result of Covid-19.
Critics have argued that the profit-driven nature of the private nursing home industry is the underlying problem, since treating elder care as a commodity rather than a public good can incentivize cost-cutting or money-making measures that put people in harm's way.
In Connecticut, according to a study, "For-profit nursing homes had about 60% more cases and deaths per licensed bed than nonprofit ones," while "larger facilities were hit harder than smaller ones, and... homes serving as part of a chain had worse outcomes," as Reuters reported
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