“The fastest-rising long term care costs are no longer for the most skilled care – in a facility, they’re now for the least-complex care – at home, according to Genworth’s latest 2019 Cost of Care Survey results, announced today. To explore Cost of Care data by city, state or zip code, find trend charts and access lists of states ranked in order of care costs, visit www.genworth.com/costofcare.The cost of homemaker services, which includes assistance with ‘hands-off’ tasks such as cooking, cleaning and running errands, has increased 7.14 percent in the last 12 months alone. The cost of a home health aide, which includes ‘hands-on’ personal assistance with activities such as bathing, dressing and eating, has increased 4.55 percent. Although the $51,480 national annual median cost of homemaker services is only about half the annual median cost of a nursing home, the cost of homemaker services rose almost four times as fast (7.14% vs 1.82%). That means even assistance with simpler, everyday tasks – often the only help needed to maintain independence at home — is now more expensive than ever.”
LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
Dramatic new findings in the redesigned 2019 Genworth Cost of Care Survey will surely help sell new LTCI policies. This year, a single link takes you to one internet page with further links to both the national summary of costs by venue and a map of the U.S. where you can home in on individual states. The new design also has a slider that allows you to see estimated increases in costs for future decades. You can also select hourly, daily, monthly and annual costs by venue and by state. I like this new design and believe you will too. Check it out now, but know you’ll be able to find it quickly in the future by accessing The Zone, our members-only website chock-a-bloc with all kinds of critical data and information.
