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COST OF CARE What is the cost of long-term care?
Long-term care expenses vary based on geographic location and the type of care needed. This tool can help you estimate the cost of care for you or your loved ones’ unique needs.
If you’re just starting your journey to learn about long-term care, we’re here to help provide everything you need to know to make the best financial decisions for you and your family.
* The cost of care survey by New York Life, 2023. Each provider surveyed may not offer the type of care or housing encompassed in the survey. Care costs collected by surveying long term care providers for the rates of care and/or housing that they provide is compiled and averaged by illumifin. illumifin endeavors to make sure this information is as accurate as possible, but makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this site, and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this site. The data presented in this site should be used as a reference only. If you are using or need to utilize long term care services, contact the service provider to verify their individual costs as they may differ from the averages reported.
1Assumption based on 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 52 week (2080).
2Based on 12 months of the monthly rate.
3Based on the daily rate (365 days).
What is long-term care?
Long-term care is the help you may need if you’re unable to perform basic everyday tasks on your own, such as eating and bathing. As you age, you may want to consider how you would address a possible long-term care event.
70%
of people age 65 and older will need some type of long-term care in their lives.1
64%
would rely on family or friends for long-term care if they didn’t have benefits.2
90%
of those requiring long-term care help receive it outside of nursing homes.3
Where can I receive long-term care?
Though people are most familiar with nursing homes, there are actually a wide range of options including receiving care in the comfort of your own home. Here are examples of where you can receive care:
Your home.
A home health aide cares for people who wish to remain in their homes. In-home aides provide care that includes helping with every day tasks, including administering medicine, bathing, dressing, grooming, and other tasks around the house.
Assisted living facility.
Assisted living facilities provide more flexibility than nursing homes, providing a home-like setting designed to promote a more independent lifestyle. Living spaces are generally apartments or individual rooms, with communal gathering spaces and activities. Depending on level of need, nurses and assistants help residents with daily living and medical needs.
Nursing homes.
A nursing home is a place for people who are unable to be cared for in their own home. Most nursing homes have a dedicated staff of nurses and nurses aides providing round the clock care for residents. Staff provides medical care, physical therapy, and other day-to-day needs.
Why is long-term care protection important?
75%
of all caregivers are uncompensated female family members.4
24
Hours per week is spent by the average family member providing care.5
45
Hours per week is spent by the average spouse/partner providing care.6
$116,000+
The national annual median cost of care for a private room in a nursing home.7
$365,000+
Cost of three years of assisted living plus two years of nursing home care.7
Long-term care FAQ’s
Many people mistakenly believe that government programs like Medicare and Medicaid will automatically pay all of their long-term care needs. While these programs do pay for some long-term care services, you shouldn’t plan on them covering the majority of your costs.
Medicaid may pay for skilled nursing home services, as well as some home and community-based care for low-income Americans who have limited funds. To qualify, one has to meet federal and state guidelines for income and assets. Many people who are living in nursing homes entered the facility paying for care out-of-pocket, and only after they spend enough of their assets do they meet Medicaid eligibility requirements via asset “spend-down.”
Not all nursing homes accept Medicaid patients, and Medicaid can dictate which nursing home a patient may use. If you’re concerned with protecting your assets, or simply want more control over the type of care you will receive, you should not rely on Medicaid for their long-term care needs.
Medicare may cover up to 100 days of skilled nursing home care if certain conditions are met, but it’s not designed to be a long-term care financing tool. Medicare does not pay for any homemaker services, home health aides, or assisted-living costs.
Not necessarily. All applicants are underwritten and health status can affect insurability or premium rates for LTCi. However, the majority of applicants who apply for long-term care insurance coverage from New York Life are approved.
It varies. Premiums are determined by your age at time of purchase, the amount of coverage you purchase, the length of your waiting period, the inflation option and any additional riders you purchase.
- Premiums increase with age, so the younger you are when you buy a policy, the less you will pay in annual premiums and over your lifetime.
When considering long-term care insurance premiums, remember to weigh costs against the potential pool of benefit dollars available to you.
Yes! At New York Life, we’re here to help you face your future securely and confidently. As a mutual company with the highest ratings for financial strength currently awarded to a life insurer by all four major ratings agencies, we are well-positioned to withstand the market fluctuations that come with managing a risk pool over many decades.
Unlike many of our stock company competitors, who are beholden to the short-term concerns of Wall Street, our focus is always solely on the long-term, and the security of our policy holders. This cautious, forward-looking mindset should be considered a hallmark characteristic, if not a prerequisite, for long-term care insurers. This is because long-term care insurance is fundamentally a very long-term proposition, for both the policyholder and the insurer.
Ultimately, long-term care insurance is a 20, 30, 40-year, or maybe more promise. If you are considering applying for New York Life long-term care insurance coverage, you are on the right path.
Helpful resources about long-term care.
The purpose of this material is solicitation of individual insurance. An insurance agent may contact you. Policy forms ICC18-LTCD PLCY (0218), LTCD PLCY (0218), LTCD-U PLCY (0218), ICC14-LTC6, LTC6, LTC6-U, and any state-specific, are issued by New York Life Insurance Company, New York, NY. Policy forms ICC20-AF-MP, ICC20-AF-SP, AF-MP, AF-SP, 316-60P & 316-284R, 316-150P & 316-283R and any state-specifics, are issued by New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation, Newark, DE, a wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company. The policies have exclusions and limitations. Underwriting approval is required to purchase coverage and a medical exam may be required. The company reserves the right to increase premiums in the future. For cost and complete details of the coverage, contact your agent or the company. New York Life Insurance Company and New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation have the sole financial responsibility for its own products.
ICC21-1891745 and 1891745.
1"How Much Care Will You Need?," U.S. Administration for Community Living, https://acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/how-much-care-will-you-need, February, 2020.
2"Experience and Satisfaction Levels of Long-Term Care Insurance Customers: A Study of Long-Term Care Insurance Claimants," LifePlans, September 2016
3"Long-Term Services and Supports", AARP Public Policy Institute, August 2019.
4"Aging in America", Institute on Aging, https://www.ioaging.org/aging-in-america, 2023.
5“Caregiving in the U.S.” AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. May 2020.
6“Caregiving in the U.S.” AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. June 2015.
7New York Life Cost of Care Survey, 2023