Long Term Care Costs Continue To Increase per Genworth 2015 Survey

Genworth Financial, one of the nation’s leading long term care insurance companies, recently released the Genworth 2015 Cost of Care Survey. This extensive survey covers thousands of long term care providers in 437 regions nationwide.

Of all the types of long term care included in the survey, Assisted Living Care and Adult Day Care showed the greatest year over year increases. The cost of Assisted Living Care increased 4.55% from 2012 to a national median monthly rate of $3,450.

What were costs like in 2012 and 2013? Increases from 2012 in the median national costs for other types of long term care are as follows:

• Adult Day Care costs rose 6.56% to a daily rate of $65.
• Nursing Home Care private room costs increased 3.6% to $230 per day / $83,950 per year.
• Nursing Home Care semi-private room rates increased 3.3% to $207 per day / $75,555 per year.
• Home Health Care costs have remained relatively flat according to the Genworth 2013 Cost of Care Survey.

Medicare pays very little for long term care and many Americans would become impoverished if they had to pay for these costs out of pocket. For those interested in protecting their assets and family from the high costs of long term care it’s important to know these costs. Long term care insurance carriers provide applicants the flexibility to choose their benefits. Some families will want the insurance company to pay the entire cost of their long term care needs, while others may want to co-insure the risk and enjoy a lower insurance premium. Long term care benefits can also be indexed for inflation, but it’s important to know the current cost of care and use it as a benchmark when selecting your long term care insurance benefits.