Commentary

Cost of Private Nursing Home Room Now Averaging $92-150 Annually

The median cost of a private nursing home room in the United States has increased 4.2 percent to $91-250 a year- according to the 2015 edition of a Cost of Care survey that the insurer Genworth has conducted for the past 12 years.  Genworth reports that the median cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is $80-300- up 3.8 percent from 2014.

The price rise was slightly more modest for assisted living facilities– where the median rate ticked up 2.9 percent- to $3-600 a month.  The national median rate for the services of a home health aide was $20 an hour- representing a 1.3 percent increase over 2014- and the cost of adult day care- which provides support services in a protective setting during part of the day- rose from $65 to $69 a day.

Once again- Alaska was the costliest state for nursing home care- with the median annual cost of a private room totaling $281-415. Oklahoma again was found to be the most affordable state- with a median annual cost of a private room of $60-225.

The 2015 survey was based on responses from more than 15-000 nursing homes- assisted living facilities- adult day health facilities and home care providers. The survey was conducted by phone during January and February of 2015.

For further resources, see Genworth’s 2015 Cost of Care Survey and senior living and alternatives to nursing homes.