Recent Accounting Pronouncements Recent Accounting Pronouncements	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Recent Accounting Pronouncements [Abstract]
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]	RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS In February 2016 the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases, which has been codified under ASC Topic 842. In July and December 2018 the FASB updated the pending Topic 842 with ASU 2018-11, Leases - Targeted Improvements, and ASU 2018-20, Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors, respectively. ASU 2018-11 provides a simplified transition method under which we applied the new leases standard as of the adoption date and recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment, as appropriate, to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. Consequently, our reporting for the comparative periods presented in the financial statements in which we adopted the new leases standard will continue to be in accordance with prior GAAP (Topic 840, Leases). ASU 2018-20 was issued to address implementation issues related to Topic 842. We adopted Topic 842 on January 1, 2019 (the “application date”), and, effective with our adoption, we elected the package of practical expedients allowing, among other provisions, for transition with no reassessment of the lease classification for any expired or existing leases. Further, we elected the available practical expedient under ASU 2018-11 that allows us to make an accounting policy election and assess whether a contract is predominantly lease or service-based and recognize the entire contract under the relevant accounting guidance. No cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings was necessary, based on our analysis. The Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors under ASU 2018-20 requires NHI to exclude from variable payments, and therefore revenue, our costs paid by our tenants directly to third parties. Some of our leases require property tax and insurance costs be covered by our tenants through escrow reimbursement. We serve as the administrative agent for these escrow transactions and ASU 2018-20 requires the associated revenue and expense to be included in our consolidated financial statements. We have included $1,090,000 reimbursement as both a revenue and expense item in our condensed consolidated income statement for the three months ended March 31, 2019, under the captions “Rental income“ and “Property taxes and insurance on leased properties,” respectively. The principal difference between Topic 842 and previous guidance is that, for lessees, lease assets and lease liabilities arising from operating leases will be recognized in the balance sheet. While the accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under previous GAAP, changes have been made to align i) certain lessor and lessee accounting guidance, and ii) key aspects of the lessor accounting model with the revenue recognition guidance in Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which we adopted January 1, 2018. Under Topic 842 and unlike prior GAAP, a buyer-lessor in a sale-leaseback transaction will be required to apply the sale and leaseback guidance to determine whether the transaction qualifies as a sale. Topic 842 includes provisions which generally conform with Topic 606, and the presence of a seller-lessee repurchase option on real estate in a sale and leaseback transaction will result in recording the transaction as a financing that would otherwise meet the lease accounting requirements for buyer-lessors under previous guidance. Going forward under Topic 842, for us as lessor, existing sale-leaseback or other leases that undergo modifications may trigger reconsideration of continued accounting for the lease. NHI has largely ceased inclusion of purchase options in new sale-leaseback transactions, and there were no material effects from the change in sale-leaseback guidance as it relates to repurchase options. In April 2018, we entered into a ground lease as lessee in connection with our acquisition of certain real estate assets. In accordance with transition elections allowed under Topic 842, discussed above, we have continued to account for the lease as an operating lease. Upon adoption of the standard, as lessee we recognized a right-of-use asset and a lease liability at the adoption date. No cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings was required to effect a net balance sheet adjustment resulting in an additional operating lease liability and right-of-use asset approximating $1,176,000, as a result of our adoption of Topic 842, which were included in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2019 among “Accounts payable and accrued expenses” and “Real estate assets,” respectively. Consistent with present standards, upon the adoption of Topic 842, NHI continues to account for lease revenue on a straight-line basis for most leases. Under Topic 842 only initial direct costs that are incremental to the lessor are capitalized, a standard consistent with NHI’s current practice. Under provisions of ASU 2018-20, discussed above, we continue to exclude from variable payments lessor costs paid by our lessees directly to third parties, as consistent with our prior practice. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses. ASU 2016-13 will require more timely recognition of credit losses associated with financial assets. While current GAAP includes multiple credit impairment objectives for instruments, the previous objectives generally delayed recognition of the full amount of credit losses until the loss was probable of occurring. The amendments in ASU 2016-13, whose scope is asset-based and not restricted to financial institutions, eliminate the probable initial recognition threshold in current GAAP and, instead, reflect an entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses. Currently, when credit losses were measured under GAAP, we generally only considered past events and current conditions in measuring the incurred loss. The amendments in ASU 2016-13 broaden the information that we must consider in developing our expected credit loss estimate for assets measured either collectively or individually. The use of forecasted information incorporates more timely information in the estimate of expected credit loss that will be more useful to users of the financial statements. ASU 2016-13 is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses, aligns the transition requirements and clarifies that operating lease receivables are excluded from the scope of ASU 2016-13. Instead, impairment of operating lease receivables is to be accounted for under ASC 842. Because we are likely to continue to invest in loans and generate related notes receivable, adoption of ASU 2016-13 in 2020 will have some effect on our accounting for our loan investments, though the nature of those effects will depend on the composition of our loan portfolio at that time; accordingly, we are in the initial stages of evaluating the extent of the effects that adopting the provisions of ASU 2016-13 in 2020 will have on NHI.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In February 2016 the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases, which has been codified under ASC Topic 842. In July and December 2018 the FASB updated the pending Topic 842 with ASU 2018-11, Leases - Targeted Improvements, and ASU 2018-20, Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors, respectively. ASU 2018-11 provides a simplified transition method under which we applied the new leases standard as of the adoption date and recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment, as appropriate, to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. Consequently, our reporting for the comparative periods presented in the financial statements in which we adopted the new leases standard will continue to be in accordance with prior GAAP (Topic 840, Leases).

ASU 2018-20 was issued to address implementation issues related to Topic 842. We adopted Topic 842 on January 1, 2019 (the “application date”), and, effective with our adoption, we elected the package of practical expedients allowing, among other provisions, for transition with no reassessment of the lease classification for any expired or existing leases. Further, we elected the available practical expedient under ASU 2018-11 that allows us to make an accounting policy election and assess whether a contract is predominantly lease or service-based and recognize the entire contract under the relevant accounting guidance. No cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings was necessary, based on our analysis.

The Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors under ASU 2018-20 requires NHI to exclude from variable payments, and therefore revenue, our costs paid by our tenants directly to third parties. Some of our leases require property tax and insurance costs be covered by our tenants through escrow reimbursement. We serve as the administrative agent for these escrow transactions and ASU 2018-20 requires the associated revenue and expense to be included in our consolidated financial statements. We have included $1,090,000 reimbursement as both a revenue and expense item in our condensed consolidated income statement for the three months ended March 31, 2019, under the captions “Rental income“ and “Property taxes and insurance on leased properties,” respectively.

The principal difference between Topic 842 and previous guidance is that, for lessees, lease assets and lease liabilities arising from operating leases will be recognized in the balance sheet. While the accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under previous GAAP, changes have been made to align i) certain lessor and lessee accounting guidance, and ii) key aspects of the lessor accounting model with the revenue recognition guidance in Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which we adopted January 1, 2018. Under Topic 842 and unlike prior GAAP, a buyer-lessor in a sale-leaseback transaction will be required to apply the sale and leaseback guidance to determine whether the transaction qualifies as a sale. Topic 842 includes provisions which generally conform with Topic 606, and the presence of a seller-lessee repurchase option on real estate in a sale and leaseback transaction will result in recording the transaction as a financing that would otherwise meet the lease accounting requirements for buyer-lessors under previous guidance. Going forward under Topic 842, for us as lessor, existing sale-leaseback or other leases that undergo modifications may trigger reconsideration of continued accounting for the lease.

NHI has largely ceased inclusion of purchase options in new sale-leaseback transactions, and there were no material effects from the change in sale-leaseback guidance as it relates to repurchase options.

In April 2018, we entered into a ground lease as lessee in connection with our acquisition of certain real estate assets. In accordance with transition elections allowed under Topic 842, discussed above, we have continued to account for the lease as an operating lease. Upon adoption of the standard, as lessee we recognized a right-of-use asset and a lease liability at the adoption date. No cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings was required to effect a net balance sheet adjustment resulting in an additional operating lease liability and right-of-use asset approximating $1,176,000, as a result of our adoption of Topic 842, which were included in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2019 among “Accounts payable and accrued expenses” and “Real estate assets,” respectively.

Consistent with present standards, upon the adoption of Topic 842, NHI continues to account for lease revenue on a straight-line basis for most leases. Under Topic 842 only initial direct costs that are incremental to the lessor are capitalized, a standard consistent with NHI’s current practice. Under provisions of ASU 2018-20, discussed above, we continue to exclude from variable payments lessor costs paid by our lessees directly to third parties, as consistent with our prior practice.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses. ASU 2016-13 will require more timely recognition of credit losses associated with financial assets. While current GAAP includes multiple credit impairment objectives for instruments, the previous objectives generally delayed recognition of the full amount of credit losses until the loss was probable of occurring. The amendments in ASU 2016-13, whose scope is asset-based and not restricted to financial institutions, eliminate the probable initial recognition threshold in current GAAP and, instead, reflect an entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses. Currently, when credit losses were measured under GAAP, we generally only considered past events and current conditions in measuring the incurred loss. The amendments in ASU 2016-13 broaden the information that we must consider in developing our expected credit loss estimate for assets measured either collectively or individually. The use of forecasted information incorporates more timely information in the estimate of expected credit loss that will be more useful to users of the financial statements. ASU 2016-13 is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses, aligns the transition requirements and clarifies that operating lease receivables are excluded from the scope of ASU 2016-13. Instead, impairment of operating lease receivables is to be accounted for under ASC 842. Because we are likely to continue to invest in loans and generate related notes receivable, adoption of ASU 2016-13 in 2020 will have some effect on our accounting for our loan investments, though the nature of those effects will depend on the composition of our loan portfolio at that time; accordingly, we are in the initial stages of evaluating the extent of the effects that adopting the provisions of ASU 2016-13 in 2020 will have on NHI.