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The Costs of Long Term Care
The costs of long-term care vary greatly depending on where you live and the
type of care you receive. Many people think that home care usually costs less
than nursing home care. In fact, home care can cost just as much, if not more
than nursing home care. It depends on what type of care you need in your home,
and for how many hours per day.
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Here are Four Options To Pay For
Your Long-Term Care
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- You can rely on others (spouse, children, etc) to provide the help
needed. This option is only available to those with a support system
in place and if the amount and type of care required is possible for
them to provide.
- You can self-insure and pay for your own long-term care with your
own assets and income.
- You can spend down all of your assets and then qualify for
Medicaid. (Medi-Cal in California).
- You can transfer a predetermined amount of risk of long-term care
to an insurance company by purchasing long-term care insurance.
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As you can see from the chart below, the cost of nursing home care can vary
from close to $100 per day in the lower cost areas to almost $300 per day in a
higher cost area. To summarize, the cost of nursing home care nationwide will
run anywhere from about $36,500 to $109,500 per year (depending on where you
live).
What will the future cost of long-term care be?
When planning for your future long-term care expenses it is important to not
only note what the cost of care is today, but what it will be in the future.
According to the General Accounting Office (1991), the annual cost of care is
growing by 5.8% per year. This means that in 20 years the cost of long-term care
is expected to triple. So if you are 60 years old today, you needed care at age
80, and you lived in an area where the annual cost of care is $54,385.00, the
cost in 20 years would be $167,954.83. Imagine what your future expenses will be
if you live in a higher cost area!
Ancillary Costs
Besides the normal daily rate that a nursing home will charge you, or the hourly
rate that a home care agency will charge you - there are always going to be
ancillary costs you should plan for. In a nursing home, additional expenses
could be diapers, laundry, medications, and other incidentals. In your home,
there are additional expenses like safety devices (i.e. grab bars near the
bathroom and toilet, and maybe a ramp for the stairs).
Human CostsIf a
family member decides to provide the care rather than paying a professional,
there are many human costs besides financial costs to consider. Your family may
or may not be aware of these, or be prepared for them. If your plans are to save
the expense of paying someone to care for you and rely on a family member
instead, you need to consider the costs that they will pay - financially,
physically, and emotionally. It is not unusual for the care-giving spouse to
predecease the spouse being cared for, due to stress.
“26.6% of the adult
population has provided care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged
family member or friend during the past year. Based on current census
data, that translates into more than 54 million people.”
Source: National Family Caregivers Association Random
Sample Survey of 1000 Adults, Summer 2000 |
Financial Costs
When you rely on family members to take care of you, it is important to consider
the financial costs they will incur. They may be more than willing to take care
of you, but may be unaware there will probably be a financial loss to them. The
financial loss to them could be very high. If they currently work, they may need
to work fewer hours, or even give up their jobs altogether.
A 1999 MetLife Study reported “care giving costs an (individual) an average
of $656,000 in lost wages, pensions, and Social Security, not to mention
negative health impacts.”
Physical Costs
Providing long-term care is hard work. Family members report exhaustion from the
long hours of care giving. If you had a stroke and could not bear your own
weight it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for a family member to
lift you in and out of bed. Especially if your caregiver is your spouse and you
are both in your 80’s! If you have Alzheimer’s and require 24-hour care, it
can be very exhausting for a family member to stay up all night and during the
day. Your family caregiver couldn’t do that for too many days in a row!
Emotional Costs
The emotional toll caregivers experience is another cost your loved ones pay in
providing care to you. If you are relying on a family member to take care of
you, it is important to understand the type of care you may be asking them to
provide. You may be thinking that the extent of the care is helping you in and
out of bed, assisting you with meal preparation, or driving you to the doctor.
But, what if you need more care than that? Will it be possible for the friend or
family member to handle more extensive care?
Children can become clinically depressed while
taking care of their parents. Sixty-one (61%) of “intense” family
caregivers (those providing at least 21 hours of care a week) have
suffered from depression. Some studies have shown that caregiver stress
inhibits healing.
Source: National Family Caregivers Association, Long
Term Care (Caregiving Across the Life Cycle) 1998 |
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