Video 2 of the Kiplinger series asks the question many of us want the answer to: how much does long term care cost? If only there were an easy answer. The video provides some decent insight into this.
There are many factors that impact the cost of long term care, the most obvious being, where in country you live. Secondly, what level of care do you require? As the video states, costs can vary quite dramatically from city to city, state to state. Our recommendation: ask around before you need care.
So what can you expect to pay for the different types of long term care?
- assisted living – $3000/month but again, this will vary widely depending on where you live
- nursing home care – $75,000 year but also varies widely
- home-health care – this too will vary, by location as well as the amount of home-health care required. For example, do you just need a couple hours a day or 24-hr care?
Without being too critical, don’t take the “interview” with their guest the end-all-be-all for nursing home and home health aid advice. Personally we found her to be a bit um, over-dramatic. Yes there are nursing homes that aren’t well managed, this is not, and should not, be considered the norm.
There’s a misperception that the majority of long term care takes place in nursing homes, when in fact, according to recent studies, only about 20% of long term is delivered in nursing homes. Most would prefer receiving care at home. But is care at home cheaper? Again, it can be. If you require 24/7 care, costs are really going to add up.
It’s not covered in great detail, but it’s probably one of the most important topics covered here: how do you pay for long-term care? Or maybe we should rephrase the question: who pays for long term care? Is this where medicaid comes into play? Medicaid will cover some costs, but you need to spend down assets, down to $2000. Think this is easy, think you can just “gift” your money? Think again. New laws are making this more difficult.
Coming up – Paying For Long Term Care
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