Nursing Home and Assisted Living Rates Rise by Nearly 5% in 2010
Aging in place costs remained flat in 2010 while nursing care and assisted living rose by nearly 5% since 2009. According to the the Met Life Mature Market Institute 2010 Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs, the price of home health aides remained in line with prices for 2009 at $21 per hour and adult day services costs stayed at $67 per day. Overall, the survey showed rates for nursing home and assisted living rates rose significantly from 2009 to 2010 with private room nursing home rates rose 4.6% to $229 per day or $83,585 per year, while assisted living rose 5.2% on average to $3,293 per month, or $39,516 per year. The increases in 2010 come on top of increases in 2008 to 2009 of 3.3%.
“The cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living has been and continues to be high and, in the past year, the increases have even outpaced medical care inflation of about 3%,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D.,
director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. “As the population ages, there are more and more people among us who will need long-term care. While families continue to provide the lion’s share of care, paid care is commonly part of the equation and the costs can derail even the best financial plan. There is very good reason for individuals and families to look into savings plans, annuities and long-term care insurance to hedge the possibilities.”
Location of services was a strong influence in the cost of care outlined by the survey where the highest average daily rates for nursing homes continued to be in Alaska, where rates are now $687 for a private room and $610 for a semi-private room. The lowest costs identified in the survey showed that areas in Louisiana had an average of $138 per day for a private room. Assisted living costs were highest in Washington, D.C. with an average monthly rate of $5,231 and the area around Little Rock, Arkansas saw the lowest average rate at $2,073.
Visit the Met Life Mature Market Institute 2010 Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs
Email This Post
Print This Post
Category: Uncategorized
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
I love the quote by Sandra Timmermann in this article: “The cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living has been and continues to be high".
Come on, let's get real with the quotes and comparisons. For a real comparison let's figure for a moment: home health aids, per this article are demanding $21 per hour. Let's multiply this by 24 hours to figure a per-day cost. Then, let's multiply this per-day cost by 30 days for a monthly figure. This equates to…are you ready…a whopping $15,120 per month for home health aids for those wanting to "stay in their homes".
Compare this $15,120 per month for a home health aid (which by the way doesn't include ANY food) to assisted living at $3,293 per month and assisted living is a SCREAMING DEAL.
The cost of care in an assisted living home "has been and continues to be high"?? Come on now.