Private nursing homes now cost $10 more than it did last year.
You may have to allot more on long term care from your budget as the yearly survey by a financial firm has found its costs are continuously on the rise.
According to long term care insurance provider Genworth Financial, adult day care and assisted living cost increased by 12 percent this year from 2009. The median daily rate for nursing care in both private and semiprivate rooms rose by more than 5 percent, while the cost of services for stay-at-home patients grew by about 3 percent.
Genworth’s study included about 13,000 long-term care providers in 436 regions nationwide, and did not say why the costs increased.
“Many facilities now provide services to residents who need continual care or supervision – while still providing a lower level of care to healthier individuals,” the report said. “As the range of services becomes broader, so does the range of monthly costs,” it added.
Private nursing home services are more expensive now, too – rising from $196 per day in 2009 to $206 this year. And the costs can get much higher with each state. For instance, private rooms cost about $51,056 a year in Louisiana, and over $200,000 in Alaska.
It is too early to tell if the recently-passed health care bill would have any impact on the cost, Genworth Senior Vice President Beth Ludden said.
Other health care services surveyed included:
- home health aide services grew by 2.7 percent this year from 2009;
- homemaker services, such as running errands and cooking, increased by 3 percent to a national median hourly rate of $18.
