Nursing Homes in Houston, TX

What Is Nursing Homes?

What Nursing Homes Provide

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) provide the highest level of non-hospital residential care. They serve two distinct populations: short-term rehab patients recovering from surgery, strokes, or falls — and long-term residents who need ongoing medical oversight that assisted living cannot provide. SNFs are staffed with registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, CNAs, and on-site or consulting physicians.

Regulation: State + Federal Oversight

Nursing homes face stricter oversight than assisted living, from two separate agencies:

• Texas HHSC (LTC-R Program) — Annual state surveys plus complaint-driven investigations. Separate from the ALF licensing that governs assisted living.
• Federal CMS — Publishes a 1–5 star overall rating on Medicare.gov based on health inspections, staffing hours, and quality measures. Look up any Houston nursing home at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Medicare Coverage — How It Works

Medicare Part A covers short-term skilled nursing after a qualifying 3-day inpatient hospital stay:

• Days 1–20: 100% covered by Medicare
• Days 21–100: ~$200/day copay in 2026 (covered by most Medigap/supplement plans)
• Day 101+: Medicare ends — private pay or Medicaid required

Medicare only covers skilled care (PT, OT, speech therapy, wound care) — not custodial long-term stays. Plan ahead for how care will be funded if recovery extends beyond the 100-day window.

Medicaid & Long-Term Costs

Private-pay nursing home care in Greater Houston runs $6,000–$9,000/month for a semi-private room, higher for private rooms. Facilities near the Texas Medical Center typically price at the upper end. Approximately 60% of nursing home residents nationally are covered by Medicaid at some point during their stay. Use the coverage filter on this page to find Medicaid-accepting facilities.

How to Evaluate a Nursing Home

Beyond the CMS star rating:

• Check each star category individually on Medicare.gov — a high overall score can mask a low staffing sub-score
• Ask for RN hours per resident per day (the staffing metric most predictive of care quality)
• Ask about the ratio of short-term rehab patients vs. long-term residents — facilities skewing heavily toward rehab may deprioritize long-term residents
• Visit during mealtimes or evening hours — not midday, when facilities are typically at peak staffing
• Talk to families of current residents if you can — their experience is more telling than any report

When choosing a nursing homes community, key factors include staffing ratios, activities of daily living (ADL) support, medication management practices, secured memory units (where applicable), dining programs, and the physical layout of the building. We recommend scheduling tours at your top 3 options and bringing a list of your loved one's specific care needs to discuss with the care director.