If you spent a day in a private room at an average U.S.nursing home in 2010, you would have racked up a bill for $247 -14% more than you would have paid in 2008, and 47% more than thesame level of care cost in 2004. If you stayed for a year, yourbill would have amounted to $90,155.

That's according to Prudential's fourth biannual Long-Term CareCost Study, which tracks cost trends and consumer perceptionssurrounding the long-term care category.

In association with adult care specialist LifeCare, the Prudentialstudy evaluated findings based on 1,714 telephone interviews withrepresentatives from nursing homes, assisted living facilities andother providers from 75 metro areas, along with 1,000 onlinesurveys of consumers.

Among key findings:

• Costs for long-term care continue to rise,although the recession has slowed the rate of increase at somefacilities. Over the past two years, the increase in the averagecost of long-term care services ranged from 2% to 14%, versusincreases of 11% to 27% from 2004-2006.
• The largest increase in 2010 was the cost of aprivate room in a nursing home. The $247 average U.S. daily ratewas up 14% from 2008. The most expensive room rate? New York City,at $479.
• Home health care costs rose at an annualcompound rate of 13% from 2008 to 2010 to an average daily rate of$190 (assuming an eight-hour day).
• During the same two-year time period, the ConsumerPrice Index rose at an annual compound rate of just 2.5%,meaning long-term care costs are soaring well ahead of generalinflation.

Rising demand







Click here to request a complimentary copy ofPrudential's Long Term Care Cost Study.