Nursing Home, Assisted Living Rates Continue to Rise in 2010

WESTPORT, CONN.—Nursing home and assisted living rates rose significantly from 2009 to 2010, according to the MetLife Mature Market Institute “Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs”.

Private room nursing home rates rose 4.6% to $229 per day or $83,585 per year, while assisted living rose 5.2% on average to $3,293 per month, or $39,516 per year. These increases come on top of increases from 2008 to 2009 when both nursing home and assisted living costs were up 3.3%, according to the MetLife.

“The cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living has been and continues to be high and, in the past year, the increases have even outpaced medical care inflation of about 3%,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

Costs for home health aides and adult day services were unchanged in the past year. Home health aide costs remain at an average price of $21 per hour, while adult day services costs are still $67 per day.

The highest average daily rates for nursing homes continued to be in Alaska, where rates are now $687 for a private room and $610 for a semi-private room. Costs are lowest in Louisiana, outside of Baton Rouge and Shreveport, at an average of $138 per day for a private room.

For assisted living, the Washington, D.C. area had the highest average monthly base rate at $5,231, while Arkansas, outside of Little Rock, had the lowest average monthly rate of $2,073.

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2010 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs