Annual nursing home charges have continued to rise at a healthy clip, fueled by higher labor costs and federal rules that drive sicker patients downstream quicker.
The monthly charge for a private skilled nursing room increased 5.5% to $8,121 per month, or about $97,450 per year, according to Genworth’s annual Cost of Care survey.
A semi-private room rose more than 4.4%, up to $7,148 per month ($85,775 annually), this year, the insurer said.
The company also compared costs in assisted living — $3,750 per month (up 3.4% to $45,000 per year) — and home health, which rose 6.2% to $21.50 for hourly services. That extrapolates to more than $4,000 per month.
Long-term care service leaped an average of 4.5% overall in 2017, the second-largest yearly jump in the study’s 14-year history.
The Genworth online tool at www.genworth.com lets users to compare state medians per month: For example, a private nursing home room in Massachusetts is estimated to be $12,471 compared to $6,464 in Alabama.
There were nearly 4,000 completed surveys from nursing homes, survey conductor CareScout said.
From the November 01, 2017 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
