Late-Life Cost of Care Remains Flat in Atlanta, Survey Finds
A new survey shows big increases in national averages for costs of assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and to a lesser degree, in-home care.
But the picture in Atlanta is a bit different.
While the national average for a semi-private room for one year at a nursing home has increased about four percent annually, and now approaches $84,000, that same room here is about $66,000 a year.
The Genworth 2013 Annual Cost of Care Survey says $66,000 is exactly what the same room cost five years ago.
Georgia Health Care Association president Jon Howell takes the Genworth study with a grain of salt.
But, he says, the report is good in the sense it gets people thinking about late-life care.
“Seventy-percent of people over the age of 65 at some point in their lifetimes will need the services provided in long-term care,” he says.
Howell says what nursing homes charge usually coincides with Medicaid reimbursement rates, which he says have changed little in Georgia for years.