Alaska leads the nation in nursing home costs

Alaska tops the list for nursing home costs at $232,505 (semiprivate) to $273, 750 (private) per year, according to a new study. Other states where real estate is more expensive and care costs are above average include New Jersey, New York and most of New England.

During January and February 2012, 15,300 providers were surveyed by Genworth Financial. There were found to be wide variations in cost throughout the country driven by the cost of real estate and cost of living in the area, for example.

The study determined the cost of LTC services across the country in each of four categories—nursing homes, assisted living, adult day centers and home health care.

Jowynna Michel, a care resources operations leader at Genworth, said in a Fox Business interview: “So many variables go into what makes care more expensive in one area than another. Massachusetts has one of the highest costs of living in the U.S.”  Massachusetts is generally positioned at the high end of the costs scale, while Georgia is more affordable.

The study found that costs of care vary within the categories in most states. It was also determined that the costs of facility-based care increased steadily over the past five years, while home care costs have remained flat.

The study offers a clickable map to see the cost of care figures for each state in all four categories surveyed.