Cost of nursing home stays in New York is through the roof: study

by | Apr 16, 2013

Annual cost of private room hits a mind boggling $180,000 making Manhattan the second most expensive market

Don’t even think about getting old and frail in New York!

The annual cost of a private room in a nursing home in Manhattan has hit a mind-boggling $180,000 a year, according to Genworth’s annual Cost of Care Survey.

That makes the Big Apple a way more expensive place to age than the U.S. overall, where the median cost is about $84,000.

Manhattan is now the second priciest nursing home market in the country, second only to San Francisco.

Other parts of the city are no bargain, either. Prepare to pay $140,000 a year in Queens and $160,000 a year in Long Island.

“For your average lower- class, middle-class and upper- middle class person, that’s a huge number,” elder care lawyer Ronald Fatoullah of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates in New York told the Daily News.

“It’s a huge, huge issue.”

The numbers are all the more staggering when you consider that the average stay in a nursing home is two-and-a-half years.

Blame high property costs, as well as hefty staff, insurance and maintenance costs, for driving up local nursing prices which are rising at about 5% a year on a compound annual basis, said Genworth vice president Bob Bua. “Facility-based care tends to be very expensive in New York City,” Bua said.

Conversely, the cost of hiring a home health aide locally is more in line with the rest of the country. You’ll pay $22 an hour in Manhattan vs. the median hourly national rate of $19.

That’s made staying at home a popular option: Seven out of ten of Genworth’s first-time, long-term care claimants choose in-home care.

Understanding your potential future cost is crucial because Medicare generally doesn’t pay for nursing home stays and homecare.

Having Medicaid foot the bill is an option for some, but there are eligibility requirements. Others can protect themselves by purchasing a long-term care policy.

But get ready for sticker shock here, too. The cost of a long-term care policy today is about 30% to 50% higher than it was three to five years ago.

A 60-year-old couple can expect to pay about $2,000 a year for $162,000 coverage for each spouse, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance’s 2013 price index.

From: NY Daily News

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