How much will long-term medical care cost?
As the American population ages long-term care is becoming a fact of life, and something that requires financial planning for. Long-term care in the United States is an expensive proposition.
The national average for a semi-private room in a nursing home is $6,235 per month. This amounts to $205 per day, which would purchase a nice hotel room in many resort areas. For a private room in a nursing home the cost goes up to $229 per day and $6,965 per month.
Nursing homes are the most expensive form of long-term care, but assisted-care living facilities and adult daycare are also budget busters. It costs $21 per hour for an in-home health aide, and the less expensive adult daycare still averages $67 per day.
Costs for long-term care vary by region and state. Alaska is the most expensive state where the annual fee for a private room in a nursing home cost more than a quarter of a million dollars annually. The annual cost for a licensed home care in Alaska is $56,056, which is almost the same price as the annual cost of a private room in a nursing home in the least expensive state—Missouri. At $58,032 per year, a private room in a nursing home in Missouri is significantly less than one in Alaska, but the still above the price that most families can afford without any planning.
