REPORT: Nursing Home Care Costs Outpacing Home Care Costs
The cost of care received in institutional settings is rising at a rate faster than the cost of care received in home and community-based settings, according to Genworth Financial‘s 2014 edition of its annual Cost of Care Survey.
Of the care settings examined by the survey, assisted living facilities’ cost of care is rising at the fastest rate.
The report used data from nearly 15,000 long-term care providers throughout the country to determine the median rates for a range of long-term care services:
- Licensed Homemaker Services — $19 median hourly rate; up 4.11 percent from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 1.2 percent
- Licensed Home Health Aide Services — $20 median hourly rate; up 1.59 percent from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 1.32 percent
- Adult Day Health Care — $65 median day rate; no change from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 3.4 percent
- Assisted Living Facility, One Bedroom, Single Occupancy — $3,500 median monthly rate; up 1.45 percent from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 4.29 percent
- Nursing Home, Semi-Private Room — $212 median daily rate; up 2.62 percent from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 3.91 percent
- Nursing Home, Private Room — $240 median daily rate; up 4.35 percent from 2013; five-year annual growth rate of 4.19 percent
The report also provides a state-by-state breakdown of each of the rates listed above.
“Overall, while the cost of care among all care providers has steadily increased, the cost of facility-based providers has grown at a much greater rate than that for home care,” the report says.
Elsewhere in the report, Genworth, a financial security company, suggests different ways to pay for long-term care, and recommends that consumers begin planning for long-term care costs now.
— by Matthew Ozga
