Genworth: Facility-Based Care Costs Steadily Rising; How Much is LTC in Your State?

The cost of care among facility-based providers has steadily risen in the past five years, according to the results of Genworth’s 2012 Cost of Care Survey, while the cost of in-home care services has remained relatively flat.

The cost of a single-occupancy assisted living unit, with a national median monthly rate of $3,300, rose 1.19% from 2011, and has grown 5.71% more expensive in the past five years. Throughout the states, assisted living is getting more expensive, as costs generally grew the most in the past five years compared to skilled nursing, adult day care, and in-home care.

A semi-private nursing home room costs $200 a day in 2012, up 3.63% compared to last year, with a five-year annual growth of 4.5%. Private nursing home rooms, at $222 a day, saw an even higher increase from 2011, at 4.23%, but costs have risen slower in the last five years, at 4.28%.

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Americans can expect to pay approximately $15,330 more per year today for a nursing home compared to in 2007, Genworth says, although competition has kept the cost of in-home care services down.

“Home care rates have remained flat in part because of increased competition among agencies and the availability of unskilled labor, and because the companies that provide these types of services do not incur the costs associated with maintaining stand-alone health care facilities,” Genworth found.

The national median hourly rate for licensed “homemaker services”—also known as “personal care” or “companions”—is $18, the same as 2011, with a five-year annual growth os 1.15%.

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Licensed home health aide services, at an average of $19 an hour, remained unchanged from last year as well, and have only grown 1.09% more expensive since 2007.

Cost of Care Across the Country

Assisted living costs are highest in New Jersey, at $68,556 a year, compared to a national low of $29,025 a year in Missouri. On average, assisted living costs more on the East and West Coasts compared to the Midwest and South, with a national average of $39,600 a year.

Semi-private nursing home rooms top out at $273,750 a year in Alaska and $116,800 in Hawaii, and within the contiguous states, Connecticut leads with $135,050 a year, followed by New York, at $118,625. Texas has the lowest annual cost, at $47,450. Similar to assisted living costs, the East and West Coasts are significantly more expensive than the states in between; nationwide, a semi-private nursing home costs an average $73,000 a year.

Private nursing home rooms have six-figure annual costs in 10 states ranging from $101,507 to $232,505, led by the Alaska, Hawaii, and East Coast. Only four states—all in the Southern region—cost less than $59,000 a year, while annual costs across all states are an average $81,030.

Alaska tops the list for highest annual cost of “homemaker services,” at $55,484 a year, followed by Hawaii ($50,336) and Washington state ($49,192), compared to a national average of $41,184 a year.

Hawaii and Minnesota ring in at number one in the nation for highest annual cost of home health aide services, at $57,772 a year, followed by Alaska ($56,628) and North Dakota ($54,775), compared to a national average of $43,472.

View the whole survey, with state-by-state breakdowns, here.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

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