By
The average cost of long term care in the United States was $72,240 in 2004, according to a newly released study by Genworth Financial Inc., Richmond, Va.
The figure represents a mean for 3 major care categories: nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home care. The research was conducted among 6,000 providers nationally.
Costs in urban areas were 20% higher than nonurban areas. In some urban markets, such as those in New York, California and Minnesota, the cost of care was more than 40% higher than nonurban areas, Genworth found.
The average annual national cost of a private room in a nursing home was $65,200, or $179 per day, according to the survey. This was up 13% over the 2003 daily rate of $158 per day.
The average annual cost of a semiprivate room in a nursing home was $57,700, or $158 a day.
[These figures were somewhat lower than those found in an earlier study published late last year by MetLife Inc., New York. MetLife found the average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home was $192 or $70,080 annually, while for a semiprivate room, the average was $169 per day or $61,685 annually.]
In the Genworth study, Alaska continued to have the highest average annual cost in the nation at $191,400 for a private room, followed by New York City at $127,900 (up 15% and 21%, respectively, over 2003).
