"Typical" long-term care cost estimates?

Long term care comes in several varieties, including independent living, assisted living, nursing home, and alzheimer's (memory) unit. It would be easy enough to call a few facilities in your area to ask about rates.

Dave

Medicaid uses an annual average when determining blackout periods and eligibility amounts that is state specific. You may want to begin there. Admitedly I do not know how they differentiate between the different kinds of LT care.

Assisted living just east of LA county $1800-$2500 per month

Non skilled nursing home at least twice that

There is a vast difference between the best and the worst

Rates are doubling every decade. Six figure large city annual rates sounded totally ridiculous in the

So assuming a current cost of $100,000 for many regions. Current age Annual cost at age 80 "Lifetime" cost (three years)

I do not think these numbers are out of line for current medical inflation. Some people would say these are too low.

I'm not sure where you're getting your statistics. According to my LTC insurance agent, Alaska has the highest LTC costs, and we are no where near $100,000 annually, even for Alzheimer's care. Something closer to $70,000 is more like it, according to my friends who are paying for such care for their parents.

Elizabeth Richardson

As has been suggested, call some facilities in your area and ask.

I got a quote of $140 a day for nursing home care in Dallas, Texas.

-- Doug

I bet you are going to pack up and move to cheap state like Mississippi when you cant even walk or drive. Dream on.

A recent article in the NY Times said Mexico was 1/4 to 1/3 US LTC costs.

Forgive my nitpick, rick, but average is the mean, the halfway point is the median. For long term care the two may be close, but for many other numbers (such as income) there's quite a difference and the two should not be confused. JOE

Elizabeth Richardson

Oops! In a previous response (which has gone through the moderator yet), I said that you estimate was low and that the national average was $70K to $114K, citing a Fidelity retirement planning tool. I pressed "submit" before double-checking the Fidelity site. As it turns out, I remembered the low end incorrectly. It is $42K. My bad!

But I think it is assisted living costs, not nursing homes, that I am interested in. So your range above is useful to me. Thanks.

According to Fidelity's retirement planning tool, rates are increasing at about 5.5% annually. At that rate, they would double in 13 years.

That seems pretty low.

According to the Fidelity retirement planning tool, the national average is $70K to $114K. I would think that LA county would be on the high side. Not sure what to expect of "east of LA county". That's big mixed bag. And as you say, there can be a vast difference in quality.

Check with a local Area Agency on Aging. At least, that is what they are called in Texas and Kansas.

As another data point, my 93-year-old mother is in a very nice assisted living facility in Fort Worth. The basic fee is $2750/month for a one-bedroom apartment, including meals, utilities, laundry, cable TV, and weekly housecleaning. They have a point system for extra services (administering medications, giving showers, helping with dressing, reminders about mealtimes and entertainment, etc.) and her extra services are $420/month. She spends perhaps $200/month on medicine, and $70/month on the beauty shop.

Dave

Thanks. I'll see if I can find one "locally". (Actually, LA and SF are not my locale.) I presume the AonA is a local government agency.

I was also thinking of looking for something I would call an "elderly care consultant" -- kind of like an CFP for elderly care. I know the biggest problem will be assessing that person's qualifications. But I wonder: do such things exist?

Didn't the kind of "ECC" I am looking for with a quick google -- that is, someone who helps pre- and post-retirees __plan__ for when long- term care is needed. The "ECC" I stumble across seem to handle LTC or at least help set it up for you.

Great data! That is the sorta thing I was hoping someone might provide for the LA and SF areas. (With the understanding that there is probably a wide price range.)

Hmm, just the opposite for my mother :-) :-).