The rising cost of aging
Published April 18, 2015
Editorial by Burlington Times-News, April 16, 2015.
There’s a price to pay for growing old, and it’s going up.
In a detailed analysis last week, the Associated Press reported the median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year. The information comes from the annual “Cost of Care” report from Genworth Financial. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.
The annual report states that one year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
This, of course, is not news to those who are experiencing the pain of having to put their loved ones in a long-term health care facility and the costs that go with it. Most people in this category are Baby Boomers who are dealing with care for their aging parents.
Genworth found wide differences from state to state. In Oklahoma, for instance, the median cost for a year in a nursing home came out to $60,225. In Connecticut, it was $158,775. Alaska had the highest costs by far, with one year at $281,415.
The cost in North Carolina, by the way, was $82,125.
Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of The Scan Foundation, a charitable organization, says many people believe Medicare will cover the cost of long-term health care, “but that’s just not true,” he noted.
Medicare will cover some short visits for recovery after a surgery, for instance, but not long-term stays. Often enough, experts say senior citizens wind up spending their savings until they hit their last $2,000, and at that point they can turn to Medicaid, the government’s health insurance for the poor, to help cover the bill. As a result, Medicaid pays for more than half of the country’s long-term care bill.
In essence, senior citizens, at least those of middle class socioeconomic status, must suddenly become poor in order to pay for long-term health care.
With this in mind, those of sound mind and headed toward senior citizenship should consider putting their money and physical assets in the names of their children or other trusted family members.
If you are lucky, a nursing home won’t be part of your family’s aging process. In-home care and private nurses are better options for some. But the costs are unbearable for most who call nursing homes their permanent residences.
Insurers offer long-term care policies to help people shoulder the financial burden, but critics note that people have to be healthy enough to qualify for coverage. Those who take out policies find their insurance bill rises steadily as they age.
It’s a good time to plan ahead.
