When you are devising a long-term financial plan, you should consider the eventualities that you may face during your twilight years. Nursing homes are very expensive, and many elders do require nursing home care at some point in time.
There are various different reasons why people ultimately need this level of care. However, when you gain an understanding of the widespread nature of Alzheimer’s disease, you can see why so many seniors need long-term care eventually.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a very useful source of comprehensive information about this disease, and they do fantastic work. Their research has found that approximately 45 percent of the oldest old are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The oldest old are people who are at least 85 years of age.
Lack of Coverage
Long-term care costs should concern you, because Medicare does not pay for long-term care. It will pay for costs that are associated with rehabilitative measures after illnesses or injuries, but the program will not pay for a stay in a nursing home.
State of Nursing Home Costs in California
A very well researched study has been conducted by Genworth Financial. They have been probing into the state of long-term care costs for a number of years, and the figures for 2015 have been released.
In the state of California, the median annual charge for a semi-private room in a nursing home is over $89,000. The median cost is over $104,000 for a year-long stay in a private room.
We practice law in the San Jose area. The Genworth survey actually drills things down to include figures for specific cities within the state of California. In our area, the costs are higher than the median statewide costs. The median annual charge for a private room in San Jose is $134,138.
Relatively speaking, you are not going to save a great deal if you decide to surrender some privacy. The figure for a semi-private room in San Jose is almost $116,000 a year.
The survey also projects annual growth percentages. In San Jose, the five year projection for a private room is eight percent, and the number is four percent for a semi-private room. If you apply these percentages, you can see that the costs could be considerably higher than they are today if you need long-term care 15 or 20 years from now.
Length of stay is another factor to consider. People often require multiple years of care, with 10 percent of people in nursing homes residing in the facilities for at least five years.
Explore Solutions
If all of these statistics have gotten your attention, our law firm can help. We would be glad to discuss possible solutions with you in person. Contact our office if you are in need of elder care assistance. In addition to a highly qualified and experienced elder care attorney, we also have two geriatric care managers as part of our elder care team.
To set up an appointment, send us a message through this page: San Jose CA Elder Care Planning.
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