The news is not encouraging: long term care and long term care insurance are going up, according to this national study. Your best strategy: plan ahead.
For patients and caregivers, the cost of long-term care is high, with no decrease in sight. That also applies to the cost of long-term care insurance and the costs that caregivers pay, often out of their own pockets, as they strive to balance care for a loved one with taking care of their own families.
ThinkAdvisor’s recent article, “15 Most Expensive States for Long-Term Care: 2017,” says that this year’s version of Genworth Financial’s annual study on the cost of care nationwide is not reassuring. The cost of nursing home care is on the rise, as well as the cost of care provided at home, for adult day care and assisted living facilities. Costs have increased steadily, and for those licensed homemakers—those who provide what the study calls “hands-on personal care” for patients still in their homes—are jumping the fastest, increasing 6.17% in the past year. With most seniors wanting to stay in their homes, that will impact many people very hard.
Less-skilled “homemaker care,” such as cooking, cleaning and running errands has also risen, at 4.75% since last year. However, both types of homemaker assistance are at the low end on the price scale: $21 for homemaker care, and $22 for licensed homemaker care.
Elsewhere, adult day care increased by 2.94% since last year, to a national median rate of $70 per day. Assisted living facilities now average a median monthly rate of $3,750, which is an increase of 3.36% from last year, and nursing homes increased 5.50% for a private room. That’s a median daily rate of $267.
When caregivers sacrifice their own financial well-being to care for their family members, they can spend on average of $10,000 out of their own pockets for expenses. This can be for household expenses, personal items or transportation services, as well as paying for informal caregivers or LTC facilities.
Approximately 62% of caregivers are paying for these expenses out of their own retirement funds, and 45% have experienced a drop in their basic quality of living because of it. In addition, 38% have decreased the amount they put into savings and retirement to meet the costs of care.
Caregivers pay with dollars and cents and their hearts. According to the study, nearly a third of those questioned said that their role as a caregiver has taken a toll on their relationship with the person they are taking care of. They also have the pressure at work from being frequently absent and/or late and not able to handle a full work load, due to their “second job” as a caregiver. Nearly half of those surveyed say they lost a third of their income.
For more information on Paying for a Nursing Home, Long-Term Care Planning, Elder Care, Caregiver; please click to my website
Comments