The cost of routine care for the elderly is not covered by Medicare. Medicaid provides nursing homes for the indigent but not for people with assets.
Elder care is truly a Macroeconomic problem. One way or the other, millions of elderly people will need care, either at home or at assisted living/ nursing facilities.
‘We Thought Within a Year, She Would Be Gone.’ When Mom’s Care Costs Over $1 Million.
Caregiving costs are rising as people live longer and their needs increase
By Clare Ansberry, The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023
…
The median net worth of people 75 and older is $254,800, according to the Federal Reserve, which is about the same amount that it would take to cover an estimated cost of nearly 14 months of 24/7 in-home care. Caregiving is becoming more expensive as people are living longer—those 85 to 99 are among the fastest-growing age segments—and have more complicated medical needs.
…
Payroll was the Carson family’s biggest expense, averaging more than $130,000 annually in the last five years of Violet’s life and peaking at $148,000 in 2020 with overtime costs related to the pandemic, according to family records. There were other costs, totaling more than $50,000, and not covered by Medicare, including a special handicapped-accessible van that cost about $40,000 and $20,000 for a special tub… [end quote]
The human interest subject of this article is a woman with a caring family and a kind, reliable neighbor in a low-cost area of the U.S. The old lady had dementia but lived for 10 years after her husband died, until age 88. Her care cost $1.3 million.
We can be sure that people who live in higher-cost areas and have to get care from agencies will have much more hassle and end up paying much more.
DH and I bought long-term care policies when we were 60. LTC insurance is relatively inexpensive when bought relatively young. The policies have a 3-month exclusion period up-front and max out at 3 years and $250,000.
DH, 70, has moderate COPD (and still smokes). I’m a cancer survivor (69). I figure that if either of us gets so sick that we can’t perform the activities of daily living we won’t last more than 3 years. But the future is murky. The point of the article is that people who have good medical care can live a lot longer than expected. There are new cancer drugs that extend life (and are astronomically expensive).
This is a heads-up for METARs who have aging parents and also for the many METARs who are, ourselves, aging and may need care. Especially ones without children to help.
Wendy