A recently released study reveals that costs for nursing homes and assisted living facilities have increased for a fifth consecutive year. The survey by Genworth Financial Inc., comes as baby boomers are approaching retirement and worry that they haven’t saved enough to cover day-to-day expenses as well as long-term medical care costs.
The study found that the average annual cost for a private room in a nursing home rose to $76,460, or $209 per day, this year, a 17 percent increase over the $65,185 cost in 2004. Nursing home costs this year ranged from $515 per day in Alaska to $125 per day in Louisiana. An elderly person typically spends 2-1/2 years in a nursing home, or more than $190,000 on average at today’s costs.
The cost for assisted living facilities, meanwhile, averaged $36,090 nationally, up 25 percent from $28,763 in 2004. Costs ranged from $4,921 per month in New Jersey to $1,981 per month in Arkansas.
Scary news indeed!