Met Life Survey of LongTerm Care Costs Things Keep Rising

The Met Life Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs published recently. Here are the highlights:

This survey, conducted in conjunction with LifePlans, Inc., contains daily private-pay rates for private and semi-private rooms in licensed nursing homes, monthly base rates for assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aides from licensed agencies and agency- provided homemaker companion services, and daily rates for adult day services across the United States.

Nursing Homes

• National average rates for a private room increased by 4.4%, from $229 daily or $83,585 annually in 2010, to $239 daily or $87,235 annually in 2011.
• National average rates for a semi-private room increased by 4.4%, from $205 daily or $74,825 annually in 2010 to $214 daily or $78,110 annually in 2011.
• In 2011, the "Rest of State" area of Louisiana had the lowest average daily rates for a private room in a nursing home, averaging $141 per day.
• The "Rest of State" areas of Oklahoma and Texas had the lowest daily rates for a semi-private room in a nursing home, averaging $128 per day.
• The highest average daily rates for nursing homes were in Alaska, which came in at $655 for a private room and $678 for a semi-private room.

Assisted Living Communities

Monthly private-pay base rates, which are defined as room and board and typically include at least two meals per day, housekeeping, and some personal care assistance, were obtained for one-bedroom apartments or private rooms with private baths in assisted living communities.

• National average assisted living base rates increased by 5.6%, from $3,293 monthly or $39,516 annually in 2010, to $3,477 monthly or $41,724 annually in 2011.
• In 2011, the "Rest of State" area of Arkansas had the lowest average monthly base rate at $2,156, and Washington, D.C. had the highest average monthly base rate at $5,757.

Home Care Services

Hourly private-pay rates were obtained for home health aides from licensed agencies and for agency-provided homemaker/ companion services.

• The 2011 national average private-pay hourly rates for home health aides and homemaker/ companion services remain unchanged from 2010 at $21 and $19 respectively.
• The lowest average hourly rates for home care came from the "Shreveport Area" of Louisiana at $14 for a home health aide and $13 for a homemaker/companion.
• The highest average hourly rates for home care came from the "Rochester Area" of Minnesota at $34 for a home health aide and $29 for a homemaker/ companion.

Adult Day Services

• Adult day services national average daily rates increased by 4.5% from $67 in 2010 to $70 in 2011.
• In 2011, the "Montgomery Area" of Alabama had the lowest average daily rate at $29, while Vermont had the highest average daily rate at $148.

It would seem clear that rates are rising and a person's abilities to pay these rates are decreasing. And since most people do not plan for aging, they are not saving for what could be inevitable care in the future. It will probably accelerate aging-in-place regardless of whether that is the most appropriate setting for someone or not. Despite healthcare reform, providers seem intent to increase prices for those who can pay so that they can make up for the shortfalls resulting from government cuts.

Of course there are two sides to the story and providers would argue that the economic impact of facilities cannot be ignored. The money that aging services providers put back in the local economy is significant. Still we have to find a way to get our hands around costs.

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Met Life