Elder care costs keep climbing; nursing home bill now $91K

[Disir]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

 

[Hossfly]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

I saw this on the news yesterday and was sorta shocked until it was reported that one state in New England the cost in one home was $290,000. That shocked me. My Mother was in a home in Smithfield, NC and all they charged was her Social Security benefit.

 

[HenryBHough]

If your elder is in California it is vitally important that you blow their entire wealth on the first six months or so of nursing home care. Private room for sure.

That's because of the way state law works. When the wealth is gone the state is obliged to continue the standard of care for which you were paying. So if you take the most economical approach so the money will last a little longer then you're condemning your elder to minimal care for the rest of their life. When by blowing through the bucks as fast as possible you can assure them of a Cadillac care plan to the very end.

If you want to read the rules do your own research.

I'm speaking from the advice give me by California's bureaucracy when I had to deal with the situation. The lady lived to age 100 in the best of conditions thanks to that one bit of information.

 

[Sonny Clark]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

If you've never visited anyone in a nursing home, I can clue you in on how many of them treat the elderly. People that run and staff nursing homes should be put in prison for life without parole. It's so sad to actually see it, and to hear the horror stories. And, when the elderly die, the unpaid bill is usually past along to family members.

 

[Manonthestreet]

So that 500 grand those walmart employees saved up doesnt go very far at all

 

[HenryBHough]

If anyone reading this thread is thinking ahead to a need to provide care for an elder then PLEASE check with your state's bureaucracy and a lawyer specializing in "elder issues". Do it as long as possible in advance of need; YEARS ahead is not too long though it does mean touching base a couple of times a year to be sure things haven't changed in a way that will obsolete all your planning.

The rules pertaining to payment for that kind of care VARY WILDLY! If you mistime any move by even an hour you can create liabilities that will dog your family for generations.

 

[Manonthestreet]

Dont wait til care is needed to start checking prices early and comparing whats included. in case there is long waiting list.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

This is a huge problem.

91,000 a year......good grief !!!

 

[Granny]

No matter how you look at it, the cost is terribly high. In-home care is preferable ... but the cost is high (my boss attended a required work function and was blown away by the cost in CA as opposed to the cost in TN). Your aging parent can stay in familiar surroundings and receive all kinds of services from caregivers. Residential care facilities (where residents can either buy or rent their private homes or rooms) offer many things to their residents including moving them from freedom to come and go as the please to higher levels of care as they age and decline. Very expensive depending on the facility and what is offered. Last resort is nursing homes, which, unfortunately, is all that can be afforded either by the family or just full Medicare patients. The care in nursing homes, in my personal opinion, is way substandard. There's not enough staff, staff is overworked (in TN the minimum patients per CNA is 22 - no way in hell can one CNA give the kind of attention each of those 22 patients needs in an 8 hour shift) ... it's very depressing. In the year or so that I had private duty for one patient only (family member), I had to yell down the hall for an RN due to patient falls. We had a fabulous CNA on that hall, worked her ass off ... but, you know, everybody has to take a piss once in awhile or throw a sandwich down their throat on a 1/2 hour dinner break and if she was off the hall nobody was there to cover for her. And that was BEFORE Obamacare rules and regulations were put into force. I haven't talked to anyone who's had any work time in a nursing home that has anything good to say about the current state of affairs.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

I saw this on the news yesterday and was sorta shocked until it was reported that one state in New England the cost in one home was $290,000. That shocked me. My Mother was in a home in Smithfield, NC and all they charged was her Social Security benefit.

That is simply insane.

 

[dblack]

These health care issues are fraught with emotion and irrational expectations. Most people don't like the idea of wealth determining quality of health care. But I don't know why they believe that we'll be better off with government making the call.

 

[Granny]

It's very concerning. Right now I'm taking care of a lady in her home who I had taken care of some 4 years ago before being reassigned to someone who was only a mile away from where I live. I was shocked when I saw her again for the first time ... she has just gone down so far from dementia into Alzheimer's. Today was a good day ... everything went very smoothly. Tomorrow? Who knows? It's a crap shoot with Alzheimer's - absolutely heartbreaking - and neither she nor I can do a damned thing about it. Fortunately, she has the money to stay and home and get undivided attention every day.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

These health care issues are fraught with emotion and irrational expectations. Most people don't like the idea of wealth determining quality of health care. But I don't know why they believe that we'll be better off with government making the call.

No emotion here.

Wealth will always bring advantages. Who cares what others have as long as you have what you need.

Agreed....that government is not going to get that done.

 

[Arianrhod]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.

The annual "Cost of Care" report from Genworth Financial tracks the staggering rise in expenses for long-term care, a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers like Genworth. The cost of staying in a nursing home has increased 4 percent every year over the last five years, the report says. Last year, the median bill was $87,600.

"Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it," said Joe Caldwell, director of long-term services at the National Council on Aging. "And then it's a real shock."

...One year in a nursing home now costs nearly as much as three years of tuition at a private college.
Elder care costs keep climbing nursing home bill now 91K - Yahoo Finance

I wonder how many of these are offering lobster etc. on a daily basis? I wonder how many of these places have well trained and well paid staff?

If you were really curious, there are plenty of sites where you can find assessments of nursing homes vis-a-vis services offered, number of trained staff, important ratings on cleanliness, etc. But if you're just flapping your wings, you'll learn nothing.

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

 

[Iceweasel]

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

Odd comments. Lots of young people are as soft as marshmellows and do little more than dick around with computers, phones and tablets. Fast food places are packed with the younuns. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix. Weight problems, heart disease, diabetis, etc. effect more young than it did in the past.

 

[Arianrhod]

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

Odd comments. Lots of young people are as soft as marshmellows and do little more than dick around with computers, phones and tablets. Fast food places are packed with the younuns. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix. Weight problems, heart disease, diabetis, etc. effect more young than it did in the past.

That's why I singled out Boomers. They're watching their parents waste away in nursing homes or home-bound and dependent on 24/7 nursing care and determined that this isn't going to happen to them.

 

[Iceweasel]

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

Odd comments. Lots of young people are as soft as marshmellows and do little more than dick around with computers, phones and tablets. Fast food places are packed with the younuns. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix. Weight problems, heart disease, diabetis, etc. effect more young than it did in the past.

That's why I singled out Boomers. They're watching their parents waste away in nursing homes or home-bound and dependent on 24/7 nursing care and determined that this isn't going to happen to them.

Except that reality doesn't match your beliefs. Lots of unhealthy soft young folks out there.

 

[Arianrhod]

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

Odd comments. Lots of young people are as soft as marshmellows and do little more than dick around with computers, phones and tablets. Fast food places are packed with the younuns. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix. Weight problems, heart disease, diabetis, etc. effect more young than it did in the past.

That's why I singled out Boomers. They're watching their parents waste away in nursing homes or home-bound and dependent on 24/7 nursing care and determined that this isn't going to happen to them.

Except that reality doesn't match your beliefs. Lots of unhealthy soft young folks out there.

Then they'll choke on a Twinkie before they ever need a nursing home. Problem solved.

 

[Arianrhod]

^Anyway, I've twice mentioned Boomers. I wouldn't consider them "young people," except maybe to an octogenarian.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

What we are seeing is the last of the generation who did not consider their health to be their most important asset - smokers, people with poor diets, who never exercised, who thought "I'll wait till I get symptoms and the doc will give me a pill."

Upcoming generations are better informed, and Boomers, at least, are taking their health more seriously.

Medical science makes it possible to live longer, but quality of life depends on the individual.

Odd comments. Lots of young people are as soft as marshmellows and do little more than dick around with computers, phones and tablets. Fast food places are packed with the younuns. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix. Weight problems, heart disease, diabetis, etc. effect more young than it did in the past.

On top of that...they've been the first generation to be subjected to whole classes of new medications and food additives.

Who knows what will happen (the film World War Z comes to mind) ?