RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the
efforts of long term care providers to absorb many of the costs
associated with COVID-19 as they put their own lives at risk to
care for their clients, long term care costs increased
substantially this year, particularly for assisted living
facilities and in-home care, according to Genworth's 17th annual
Cost of Care Survey.
To explore Cost of Care data by city, state or zip code, find
trend charts and access lists of states ranked in order of care
costs, visit www.genworth.com/costofcare.
Over the course of a single year, the cost of care increased as
follows:
- Assisted living facility rates increased by 6.15% to an
annual national median cost of $51,600 per year.
- Homemaker services, which includes assistance with
"hands-off" tasks such as cooking, cleaning and running errands,
has increased 4.44% to an annual median cost of $53,7681, followed closely by the cost
of a home health aide, which includes "hands-on" personal
assistance with activities such as bathing, dressing and eating,
which has increased 4.35% to an annual median cost of $54,912.2
- The national median cost of a semi-private room in a skilled
nursing facility rose to $93,075,
an increase of 3.24%, while the cost of a private room in a
nursing home increased 3.57% to $105,850.
Why Rates Are On the Rise
In a supplemental
study to better understand why costs are rising, Genworth
researchers conducted follow-up online discussions with owners and
senior administrators of 79 long term care providers across the
country. Participants spoke with pride about the selflessness and
resiliency of their staffs as they stepped up to meet the challenge
of caring for their clients amid the risks posed by COVID-19, and
they outlined the market dynamics that are forcing them to increase
the cost of care they are providing under these extraordinary
circumstances.
"They told us that the same factors responsible for the
continuing increase in long term care costs in recent years – a
shortage of workers in the face of increasing demand for care,
higher mandated minimum wages, higher recruiting and retention
costs, and an increase in the cost of doing business, including
regulatory, licensing and employee certification costs -- were made
even worse by the pandemic," said Gordon
Saunders, senior brand marketing manager at Genworth who
manages the Cost of Care Survey.
"Providers have been competing with higher-paying,
less-demanding jobs for years, but with COVID-19, they told us it
has become much more difficult to recruit and retain care
professionals because of factors such as concerns about exposure to
COVID-19 and parents needing to stay home with school-age
children," Saunders said.
As a result, providers have had to raise wages – in some cases,
offering hazard pay of up to 50 percent more for workers caring for
COVID-19-sickened clients – and increase spending for training on
new safety procedures, testing, purchase of personal protective
equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies, and benefits, such as free
child care to attract and retain staff. Although many providers
contacted by Genworth said they were trying to absorb these new
costs, more than half (62 percent) predicted that they would
eventually be forced to raise rates in the next six months with 43
percent saying those increases would top five percent or more.
Bright Spots For Home Care
In subsequent, separate
conversations with CEOs of two national home care companies, the
executives acknowledged that while COVID-19 has created serious
challenges for the industry, the pandemic has also produced a few
bright spots, namely, the recognition that home care is an equally
valued part of the healthcare delivery system, and the acceleration
of technology that has made their services better and safer.
"The pandemic has shined a bright spotlight on the value of home
care," said Jeff Huber, CEO of Home
Instead Senior Care, based in Omaha. "We can increase the capacity of the
healthcare delivery system. The hospital of the future looks a lot
like your living room. As a part of a value-based care package, we
can reduce costs, admissions, readmissions, and overall usage of
the healthcare system. And, we can keep clients safer and improve
the quality of life for the whole family by keeping sons and
daughters in the workforce while we care for their parents."
He said the pandemic has also accelerated adoption of technology
that allows his company to onboard and train new caregivers and
continue to train them remotely. Home Instead Senior Care also is
bringing digital capabilities into the home that connect care
professionals with their clients and families, which effectively
extends the care team and enables the company to quickly attend to
any issues that arise in the home.
Seth Sternberg, CEO of Honor, one
of the largest owned and operated home care companies in the U.S.,
has seen average hours of home care increase from 35 to 45 hours
per week among his clients during the pandemic, driven by more
acute needs, fear of contracting COVID-19 in a communal care
setting, and everyday tasks becoming riskier than they used to,
such as shopping for groceries.
He said his company has invested in new infection prevention
protocols, as well as technology that allows it to quickly backfill
care professionals who may not be able to come to work, mitigating
the challenges of reduced availability of care professionals. Honor
has built out additional COVID-19 response programs, including
investment in PPE, training and additional paid time off for
caregivers.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for technology
to help enhance safety and reliability in home care," he said.
"This year we added new protocols into our technology platform
specifically to meet those needs. Some of the additional features
include pre- and post-visit wellness checks, replacement staffing
tools and contact tracing. These enhancements added significant
upfront costs, but they are worth doing because they have enabled
more older adults to live independently at home – and will keep
people safer well beyond the end of the pandemic."
Genworth's Cost of Care Planning Resources
"COVID-19
has also underscored the need to plan ahead for long term care,
considering both where we want to receive care as well as how we
will pay for it," Saunders said. "Our purpose as a company is to
help people prepare for the challenges of growing older so that
they can continue to live their lives on their own terms. We
provide our annual Cost of Care Survey and award-winning
interactive website to arm individuals and their families with the
education and tools that can empower them to make those important
plans, well before they need it."
In addition to the Cost of Care calculator, Genworth's website
contains long term care planning tools, practical information on
topics such as understanding Medicare and Medicaid, conversation
starters, impairment simulations, options for financing long term
care, and videos of real families sharing their long term care
stories.
- To access 17-year Cost of Care trend charts, click here.
- To access tables ranking states from the highest to lowest cost
in each care category, click here.
About Genworth's 17th Annual Cost of Care
Survey
Genworth's annual Cost of Care Survey, one of the
most comprehensive studies of its kind, contacted nearly 60,000
long term care providers nationwide to complete almost 15,000
surveys for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day
health facilities and home care providers during July and August,
2020. The survey includes 435 regions based on the Metropolitan
Statistical Areas, defined by the Office of Management and Budget.
CareScout®, part of the Genworth Financial family of companies, has
conducted the survey since 2004. Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, CareScout has
specialized in helping families find long term care providers
nationwide since 1997.
About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc.
(NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to
helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the
financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in
mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered
in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth
traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in
2004. For more information, visit genworth.com.
From time to time, Genworth releases important information via
postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other
interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic
email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding
new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors"
section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's
publicly traded subsidiary, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia
Limited, separately releases financial and other information about
their operations. This information can be found at
http://www.genworth.com.au.
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1 Based on 44 hours per week for 52 weeks
2 Based on 44 hours per week for 52 weeks
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SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.