Study: Facility, home care costs have increased

Facility-based care, including case at nursing homes and assisted living communities, has increased dramatically across the country over the past five years, according to Genworth’s 12th annual Cost of Care Study. The research, which covers nearly 15,000 long-term care (LTC) providers nationwide, also found that the cost to receive care at home through a home health aide is increasing at a more moderate growth rate. 

The study is designed to help older adults prepare for “the challenges and issues that come with aging, including the high costs of LTC services,” Tom McInerney, president and chief executive officer at Genworth, said in a statement. Consumers can use the study to discover the cost of care in 440 regions across all 50 states. The insurance holding company launched the Let’s Talk initiative nationwide last year to help as well, McInerney added.

Highlights of the study:

• The cost for a private nursing home room increased, on average, four percent annually over the past five years, to $91,250, nationally.
• The median annual cost for care in an assisted living facility is $43,200 nationally. The national yearly cost of assisted living has increased, on average, 2.5 percent annually over the past five years.
• Nationally, the 2015 median hourly cost for services of a home health aide hired from a home care agency is $20. Home health aide services have increased, on average, one percent annually over the past five years.

Lois Bowers

Lois A. Bowers was senior editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2013-2015.