How Much Could Long-Term Care Cost?
Nursing home care is the most expensive and intensive form of care. In 2014, a private pay patient’s charge for a stay in a Massachusetts nursing home was approximately $361.77 per day. Although the most recent study estimated that the average length of stay in a nursing home was 272 days, some stays last for many years. At $361.77 per day, the average annual cost of a nursing home stay exceeds $132,000, but it is not unusual for an individual to pay more than $150,000 per year in some nursing homes.
Assisted living is another form of facility-based long-term care. If you lived in a single occupancy assisted living studio apartment, the cost of assisted living, including the cost of rent, food, electricity and heat, and many services such as personal care, housekeeping, meals and laundry, would range from approximately $2,000 per month to more than $7,000 per month, or from $24,000 to $84,000 per year.
There is, however, great variation in services provided in assisted living facilities and prices could vary. The cost of long-term care services provided outside of a nursing home varies depending on the type of service, as well as the intensity and duration of the service.
The cost of long-term care services provided outside of a nursing home varies depending on the type of service, as well as the intensity and duration of the service. In 2014, if you receive 2 hours of skilled care from a nurse in your home three times per week for a year it could cost $31,200, or an average of $200 per day of care. If you receive 2 hours of personal care from a certified home health aide in your home three times per week throughout the year, the annual cost could be approximately $9,360, or an average of $60 per day of care. If you receive 2 hours of personal care from a personal care aide/homemaker in your home three times per week throughout the year it could cost $7,800, or an average of $50 per day of care.
All the presented figures are subject to inflation. You should note that if long-term care costs were to increase by 5% annually, the overall cost would double in approximately 15 years.