Planning for long-term care is an important issue to tackle, and the latest forecast shows that the associated costs of care are reaching well beyond the average person’s means.  This makes planning to save an estate an important proposition, and the earlier the planning, the greater the options.

The median cost of a private nursing home room in the United States has increased to $97,455 a year, up 5.5 percent from 2016, according to Genworth’s 2017 Cost of Care Survey.  Genworth, an insurer, surveys and publishes long-term care prices across the country annually and provides a benchmark for what caregivers will need to finance long-term care.  The company reports that the median cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is $85,775, up 4.44 percent from 2016.

The price rise was slightly less for assisted living facilities, where the median rate rose 3.36 percent, to $3,750 a month. The national median rate for the services of a home health aide was $22 an hour, up from $20 in 2016, and the cost of adult day care, which provides support services in a protective setting during part of the day, rose from $68 to $70 a day.

For Alabama, the Genworth survey reports that the average semi-private nursing home room in 2017 was $72,996 per year/$6,083 per month (up from $71,172 per year/$5931 per month from 2016), and the average private nursing home room was $77,568 per year /$6,464 per month (up from $75,192 per year/$6,266 per month in 2016).  The average assisted living facility was $36,684 per year/$3,057 per month (up from $34,800 per year/$2,900 per month in 2016).

Alaska continues to be the costliest state for nursing home care, with the median annual cost of a private nursing home room totaling $292,000. Oklahoma again was found to be the most affordable state, with a median annual cost of a private room of $63,510.

The 2017 survey was based on responses from more than 15,000 nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day health facilities and home care providers. The survey was conducted by phone during May and June of 2017.