Study: Home health care costs declined over past five years in R.I.

THE ANNUAL MEDIAN COST OF a home health aide and private nursing home room, $56,925 and $103,113, respectively, are higher than the national averages of $44,616 and $91,250, according to the 2015 Cost of Care study by Genworth. / COURTESY GENWORTH COST OF CARE STUDY
THE ANNUAL MEDIAN COST OF a home health aide and private nursing home room, $56,925 and $103,113, respectively, are higher than the national averages of $44,616 and $91,250, according to the 2015 Cost of Care study by Genworth. / COURTESY GENWORTH COST OF CARE STUDY

PROVIDENCE – The cost of receiving long-term care services with a home health aide in Rhode Island has decreased 0.1 percent annually over the past five years, according to the Genworth 2015 Cost of Care study released Thursday.
However, that cost has risen 1 percent nationally over the last five years, the 12th annual study said.
The study found that both in Rhode Island and nationally, there was a dramatic increase in the cost of facility-based care, including assisted living facilities.
Home health aide services are more expensive in the Ocean State compared with the national average. That also holds true for assisted living facilities and private nursing home rooms.
In Rhode Island, the median cost of a home health aide annually is $56,925, while homemaker services have a median cost of $53,768. The median hourly cost of home health aide services is $24, $4 more than the national median hourly cost for the same services. Nationally, the annual costs for a home health aide and homemaker services are $44,616 and $45,760, respectively.

A home health aide will typically help with bathing,
dressing, transferring and toileting, but not with
catheters or injections. Most agencies
also provide homemaker services that typically
include assistance with shopping, finances, cooking,
errands and transportation. Homemaker services
may also be employed for the purpose of providing
companionship.

In addition, the median annual cost for care in an assisted living facility is $43,200 nationally and $63,900 in Rhode Island.
The national yearly cost of assisted living has increased, on average, 2.5 percent annually over the past five years, and increased, on average, 5.8 percent over the same period of time in Rhode Island. The comparable cost for a private nursing home room rose, on average, 4 percent annually over the past five years to $91,250 nationally. But the increase in Rhode Island was not nearly as dramatic, as costs rose on average 0.4 percent over the past five years to $103,112.
“There is something very difficult about facing some of the challenges and issues that come with aging, including the high costs of long term care services,” Tom McInerney, president and CEO at Genworth, said in a statement. “Part of our mission at Genworth with the Cost of Care study is to continue educating Americans on how to have tough conversations around long term care and the importance of planning.”
The 2015 Cost of Care Survey covers nearly 15,000 long term care providers in 440 regions throughout all 50 states and 384 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas.

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