When most people think of long-term care benefits, they think of adult day care centers, nursing homes and hospice facilities. Each of these is an important component of the system when it comes to providing long-term care to America’s elderly or chronically disabled.

But if you ask most people whether they’d rather go to a nursing home or receive needed care and support in their own homes, the vast majority would say they want to stay home.

Fortunately, many long-term care insurance carriers are offering substantial home care benefits as part of their policies.

Cost of long-term care

The cost of providing long-term care to a chronically disabled or cognitively impaired individual who needs assistance handling the activities of daily living is high, and getting higher. The annual cost of long-term care is expected to increase by 330% over the next three decades.

Home care services aren’t cheap, either. Depending on where you live, you expect to pay from $24 to $38 per hour for a home health care assistance aide from a quality agency.

40 hours per week of in-home care could cost between $4,000 to more than $6,000 a month. However, if 24-hour care is needed, it could easily reach between $18,144 and $23,839 per month.

If full-time care isn’t needed having a home-care arrangement can be cost effective, however sometimes more is needed.

Other options

Other options

Community based care, such as that available in an adult day care center, runs an average of $95 per day nationally according to Genworth, a long-term care insurance company. Some of the more expensive facilities in high-cost markets can easily surpass $200 a day.

Genworth reports that the median annual cost for a private, one-bedroom arrangement in an assisted living facility in 2023 was $64,200. This figure represents the national median cost for this type of accommodation. 

Meanwhile, the national median monthly cost for a semi-private room in a nursing home is around $9,277. 

Is home care worthwhile?

The appropriate level and milieu of care varies widely by individual and family circumstance.

Some long-term care insurance beneficiaries have family who are able to stay in or near home and provide service and support that can help keep costs down. And obviously, you can hire a lot of in-home help before your expenses amount to the cost of an assisted living facility.

Here are some questions we can answer for you if you are interest in long-term care insurance:

• What long-term care policies cover in-home health aids and services? How is the benefit defined?
• Is it paid to the family or the agency?
• Does it cover housekeeping assistance?
• Does it cover respite care for family members?
• Does it allow the family to designate a caregiver and have the company pay that family member as a home health aide?
• Do aides have to be licensed to be eligible for benefits?
• How long will benefits last?