How much does long-term care cost?

The cost of long-term care insurance depends on several factors. They include:

• Your age. You’ll typically get a better rate the younger you are. This is why insurance professionals recommend that you start stopping for long-term care in your 40s or 50s.
• Your health. People in better health generally pay less than people with health challenges.
• The benefits you choose. This can include: The maximum amount the policy pays each year or maximum number of days the policy covers. It can also be any additional coverages or riders you add to the policy, including options for couples to pool their coverage or inflation options designed to help coverage grow over time.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that 69% of people will use long-term care services at some point.¹

Unfortunately, this care does not come cheap. Consider the national median costs for long-term care services²:

• $255 a day(or $7,756 per month) for a semi-private room in a nursing home
• $290 a day (or $8,821 per month) for a private room in a nursing home
• $141 a day (or $4,300 per month) in an assisted living facility
• $24 an hour for a health aide
• $23.50 an hour for homemaker services
• $74 per day for services in an adult day health care center

The cost of long-term care map below shows the median costs for home health aide care and private room nursing home care. As you can see, costs can vary considerably depending on where you live.

Source: Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2020, conducted by CareScout®, August 2020

Why Long-Term Care Insurance is Important

It’s important to know that Medicare provides only limited coverage for long-term care, while Medicaid only steps in once you spend down your own savings.

Relying on a family member to provide care is another less than ideal solution. That’s because caregiving is often emotionally and financially exhausting. This is especially true when the caregiver is a spouse or partner also facing their own aging health issues.

Long-term care insurance is a way to protect your assets, spare your family members from the toll of caregiving and gain needed peace of mind. Today, long-term care insurance can also be bundled with life insurance coverage. This means you get two important coverages in one policy: life insurance coverage that offers your loved ones financial support if you were to pass away or long-term care coverage if a chronic illness or disability requires you to need long-term care.

With these policies, your family would receive a death benefit if you never need long-term care. Learn more about the benefits of these hybrid policies.