Nursing homes, or skilled care/skilled nursing facilities, are for the elderly who can no longer live on their own. Several types of nursing homes exist, from those with private and semi-private bedrooms with living areas to assisted living facilities and adult day care. These services do not come cheaply, as the average cost of a nursing home includes housing, food, medical care and activities.
Average Costs
According to the MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home and Assisted Living Costs, the average cost in 2009 of a private bed in a nursing home facility is $219 per day, which computes to over $79,000 per year. For those patients who are in a semi-private room, the average cost is $191 per day, or about $70,000 annually.
Most Expensive, Least Expensive
The MetLife Survey also figured the average per-day cost among nursing homes in all 50 states in 2009. The most expensive per day care in nursing homes was in Alaska, where a private bed in a nursing home ran more than $500 per day. This is not the first time that Alaska has topped the rankings. Conversely, the least expensive state in which to live in a nursing home was Louisiana, where a private bed ran on average just over $100 per day.
Other Lows and Highs
The MetLife Survey also compared highs and lows for assisted living, home health care aides (HHCA) and adult day services in 2009. Wilmington, Delaware, had the highest per-month cost for assisted living, while North Dakota was the least expensive. In HHCA care, Rochester, Minnesota, had the highest per-hour cost, while Shreveport, Louisiana, has the lowest per-hour cost. For Adult Day Services, Vermont had the highest per-day rate, while Montgomery, Alabama, had the lowest.
Increases in Cost
The 2009 national average for assisted living care was $3,131 per month. The national average for home health care aides was $21 per hour. And the average for adult day services was $67 per day. All of those averages show a 3 to 5 percent increase over the average rates in 2008.
Loss of Beds
One thing that could be influencing the rise of average nursing home costs is the decreased availability of nursing home beds, according to McKnights.com. The number of nursing home beds fell 2 percent between 2008 and 2009. Plus, since 2002, some states, like Wisconsin and Minnesota, have seen double-digit percentage drops in the number of available nursing home beds in their state.
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