By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing
In a Blog that I posted last week, I discussed a story that appeared in the National Underwriter Life & Health Insurance News about misperceptions among older adults and adult children about the cost of assisted living and nursing home care. They significantly underestimated the cost of nursing home care and over estimated the cost of assisted living.
Today, my focus is on a Blog that was posted last week by Becky Hurley in the Colorado Springs Business Journal. The article cited information available from the Federal Long-Term Health Insurance Program about the cost of home health care, assisted living, nursing home care and adult day care.
According to the article, the average cost for each of these options as of 2008 in the United States was as follows:
To go to the link to this article click <a href=”http://csbj.com/2009/10/12/cost-of-long-term-care-in-colorado-estimated” target=”_blank”>here</a>.
With most of the communities that we manage located in Illinois, I checked a little further and found a page on the Federal Long-Term Health Insurance Program website where you can look up the 2008 Estimated Costs for specific cities in specific states. The link is www.ltcfeds.com/ltcWeb/do/assessing_your_needs/costofcare?action=costofcare
For Illinois, information is available on Chicago, Des Plaines, Evanston, Highland Park, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield. Based on the information, here is a quick summary of the monthly cost:
1) Reflects monthly cost of care for a range of three to five hours of care per day five days a week. Based on these numbers, the annual cost for just three hours of home health care just five days a week would range from $12,480 in Evanston to $17,940 in Highland Park. For five hours a day Mondays through Fridays, the cost would range from $20,800 in Evanston to $29,900 in Highland Park.
These figures only cover the cost of the home health aide or homemaker. They do not include any of the costs associated with living in the house such as maintenance and repairs, landscaping, property taxes, utilities, insurance, food, etc.
Or if you look at it another way, the cost per hour for assisted living ranges from an average of $4.16 in Chicago and $4.22 in Peoria to a high of $5.72 in Des Plaines and $7.26 in Evanston.
The rates typically cover rental of the apartment; having staff on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week; personal assistance and help with medications; three meals a day; virtually all utilities; housekeeping and laundry services; emergency alert system; scheduled transportation; social and recreational activities; and access to a variety of community areas for friends and neighbors to gather. In addition, assisted living residents can benefit from opportunities to enjoy the companionship of friends and neighbors that they might never be able to enjoy if they are confined to a house.
I would appreciate your thoughts.
P.S. Here in Illinois, we are fortunate to have the safety net of the Supportive Living program. The program serves adults 65+ of all incomes who need some help to maintain their independence, especially those who do not have the financial resources to afford assisted living.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
