How Much Does Long-Term Care Cost?
One of the major issues that elder law attorneys assist clients with on a regular basis is the matter of paying for long-term care. Much too often, older adults do not plan ahead with any strategies for asset protection or paying for long-term care. Then, in what seems like a mere moment, that older adult may require months or even years of long-term care in a nursing home following an accidental fall or a diagnosis with a serious medical condition. Most people do not realize that the costs of long-term care are extremely high, and that they will likely need to make a plan to protect their assets and to qualify for Medicaid coverage for a longer stay in a nursing home.
How much does long-term care in Connecticut actually cost? And what options are available to protect assets? An elder law attorney in Canton can explain in more detail.
Average Costs of Long-Term Care in Connecticut
According to data from Genworth, the median monthly cost of only a semi-private room in a Connecticut nursing home is more than $15,000 per month. For a year in a nursing home, in a shared room, the cost is likely to total over $180,000, and that amount is only expected to increase. To be sure, three years in a nursing home would cost more than half a million dollars based on 2023 rates.
By 2033, Genworth anticipates that price to rise to about $20,200 per month for a semi-private room, or $242,400 per year. By 2043, the price is expected to increase to approximately $27,200 for a semi-private room, or more than $326,000 per year. Even relatively well-off earners cannot afford this and expect to have savings left when they return home.
Planning Ahead for Long-Term Care and Asset-Protection Strategies
Whether you are beginning to think a decade or two ahead about your own potential long-term care needs, or you are thinking about an elderly parent, it is important to speak with a lawyer about asset-protection strategies and planning for long-term care in Connecticut. According to data from Health and Human Services (HHS), about 70 percent of older adults are likely to need long-term care in their lives, and about 24 percent of older adults will end up needing more than two years of long-term care.
Since Medicare does not pay for long-term care stays, some options for asset protection and Medicaid planning that you should consider include the following:
- Purchasing long-term care insurance;
- Creating a Medicaid asset protection trust; and
- Keeping assets in retirement accounts when possible.
An elder law attorney in Connecticut can tell you more and assist you.
Contact a Canton, Connecticut Elder Law Attorney
Working with an experienced Connecticut elder law attorney at the Law Office of Brian S. Karpe is the best way to plan ahead for the possibility of long-term care needs and to consider your options or your elderly parent’s options for Medicaid planning and asset protection. Our firm has years of experience representing clients in Connecticut with a range of elder law and asset-protection matters, and we can talk with you today about your needs or the needs of an elderly parent. Contact us for more information.
Sources:
genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care
aspe.hhs.gov/reports/what-lifetime-risk-needing-receiving-long-term-services-supports-0
