Cost of Home Health Care vs. Other LTC Options

When it comes to long-term care, which type of care is cheaper? A common misperception among the media and the public is that receiving care at home is less expensive than receiving care at an assisted living facility or a nursing home. In reality, however, which type of care is the cheapest depends on the amount of care needed. When only a little care is needed, home care is the most cost effective, but if continuous care is needed, home care may actually be the most expensive option.

 As I reported in my December newsletter, the average cost of a private nursing home room in Northern Virginia is $91,615 a year, and the average cost of home health care in Northern Virginia is $19 per hour.¹ For an Assisted Living Facility in Northern Virginia, the average base cost is $49,416 per year, which does not include extra charges for personal care and dementia care.²

The following chart breaks down the differences in expenses, depending on the type of care the elder requires.

 Costs of Care (Annual)

The reason assisted living can be more expensive than home care or nursing home care is that most assisted living facilities do not provide personal care as part of the basic fee; instead, most require residents to purchase such care from the facility or an outside provider at an extra charge.

¹Source: MetLife 2006 Market Survey of Nursing Home and Home Care Costs
²Source: MetLife 2006 Market Survey of Assisted Living Costs
³ Most assisted living facilities do not provide personal care as part of the basic fee, so this cost assumes 20 hours/week of personal care (@$19/hr) in addition to the base fee.
⁴ Most assisted living facilities do not provide personal care as part of the basic fee, so this cost assumes 148 hours/week of personal care (@$19/hr) in addition to the base fee.