Americans also are paying more for other care options like home health aides and assisted living communities, while adult day care costs fell slightly compared to 2015, Genworth reported in a study released Tuesday.
Private nursing home rooms now come with a median annual bill of $92,378, an increase of 1.2 percent from last year and nearly 19 percent since 2011. That’s roughly twice the rate of overall inflation and breaks down to a monthly bill of $7,698.
Coverage costs also are rising, and many people don’t understand these expenses until they face them, said Joe Caldwell of the National Council on Aging, which is not connected with the study.
“It’s really becoming more and more difficult for the average family ... to even purchase long-term care insurance,” said Caldwell, the nonprofit’s director of long-term services and support policy.
Medicare doesn’t cover long-term stays, so a large swath of people who need that coverage wind up spending down their assets until they qualify for the government’s health insurance program for the poor, Medicaid.